Claimed
by rckyfrk
Summary: Takes place right after "Us" (S4, E15). Daryl has taken up with Joe's group on their way to Terminus, but his heart is telling him to turn back and look for Beth. Will Joe and the group help? Will they ever find Beth? Will she still be the same Beth before they were separated? Bethyl.
1. Chapter 1

**Claimed**

**Picks up at the end of "Us" (Season 4, Episode 15).**

**I do not own any characters from The Walking Dead – just borrowing them for a while. ****Bethyl.** First time writing anything, let alone a fanfic. Thanks to literaryomnivore for the confidence boost. Let me know what you think.  


Daryl lagged behind Joe's group, having just learned they were on their way to Terminus. His gut was in knots, his heart torn. Joe had been doing right by Daryl. He welcomed him into the group, been a fair leader so far, even took care of that asshole Len instead of letting Daryl try to fend for himself against the whole group. Joe, and the rest of the troupe, had trusted Daryl's word over Len's – one of their own. "Maybe these guys are a'right after all," Daryl thought to himself.

They were heading to Terminus, on the trail of some scumbag who had attacked one of their group, Lou, completely unprovoked. Sum'bitch didn't have the balls to let the guys know he was there, that the house was already claimed. Hell, he didn't even have the decency to properly kill Lou, leaving him to turn to a walker and let him wander through the house while the punk-ass cowered away and ran. Apparently Tony had seen the guy hiding under the bed Len had fought him for...just before blacking out from Len's choke hold on him. Daryl didn't want to make waves, finding small solace in having a group to travel with that, for the most part, he mutually respected, and didn't push the issue.

Something was still nagging him, though. His head told him to stay with Joe and his crew; it's safer to travel in numbers in this world. His heart, however, was screaming for him to turn back. Beth was still out there. Daryl had told her to wait by the road when the walkers stormed in to the funeral home they were holed up in. He had led the bastards downstairs to the embalming room, taking out as many as he could so she would have a chance to escape. When he finally made it back outside, he rushed to the road. "If it hadn't been for that walker..." he reflected. "If I hadn't hesitated before taking him out...maybe I could have gotten to her in time." The guilt building inside Daryl reared its ugly head, not for the first time in the days since he had last seen her.

When Daryl had finally gotten to the road, he looked frantically for Beth, but she was nowhere to be found. He glanced down and saw her bag, its contents spilling onto the road. Before he'd had a chance to really look, to even pick it up, he heard it: the squealing tires of an old Caddy peeling away down the road. His heart jumped to his throat, his stomach sank. "God, no!" was his only thought. He screamed for her, if anything to let her know he was there, that he'd find her. "Please be alive" his heart prayed with every step as he gave chase. He'd never been one to pray before, but if there was a God up there, he could certainly use some of his help now.

He had run all night, trying desperately to track the car down, hoping against hope that he'd find some clue as to where they might be heading with his Beth.

That's right – she was his. She had reached out and touched him, touched his heart. She'd ended up being a better friend than he'd ever had, better than he'd ever deserved. Every beautiful smile she cast his way; every time she'd looked at him with those doe-eyes of hers; every time she had touched him, hugged him; every time she'd stood up to him until he would recognize she wasn't just a dumb kid, but a strong-willed woman...she'd been chipping away at the walls he'd been building around his heart since he was a kid. He'd let her in, and now he couldn't stop thinking about her, worrying about her, hoping anyone who would listen to his silent prayers would answer. He had to save her.

His mind was made up. Joe or no Joe, Daryl had to save Beth.

Daryl jogged up ahead to catch up with Joe, who was well ahead of him, following the train tracks to Terminus.

"Joe, I can't go with ya no more. I gotta go back."

The older man pulled the cigarillo from between his teeth and regarded Daryl with calculating eyes. "Say what?"

"I gotta go back, Joe. I gotta take care of my own." Joe stopped in his tracks and turned to fully face Daryl. The rest of the group followed suit. "I thought we were a team now, Daryl. You desertin' us?"

"Yeah, I guess I am," Daryl responded, looking down at the dust on his worn shoes, then raising his piercing eyes to meet Joe's.

"You were alone when we found you, when we took you in. What 'own' you gonna take care of?" Joe peered at Daryl, replacing the cigarillo to the left side of his mouth.

"When ya found me, I was tryin' ta find my..." Christ, his what? He wouldn't call her his girlfriend, though at that thought he noticed his pulse quickening. 'Sides, what kind of asshole would leave his girlfriend and take up with a bunch of strangers without a second thought? He debated telling Joe he needed to find his friend, but Beth was more than just a friend to him now. She was his anchor that kept him from spiraling out of control with his guilt at what had happened at the prison. She had breathed hope into his withered heart. She'd forced him to see the good in any situation, in other people, and he knew he was better for it in the long run. He'd trusted Joe because of her, and look where that got him so far.

"...my partner." There. That was at least closer. They worked together as a team...when they were together. A damn good team.

"Your partner?!" Joe asked, eyebrows raising clear off his forehead. "Wouldn't'a pegged you as one'a them sissy boys." The group around him started chuckling.

Shit. "NO! Not like that! She..."

"Oh, it's a she, huh?" asked one of the guys, still snickering with the rest of the crew. "Fuckers..." Daryl said under his breath.

He took a deep breath. "Yes. Her name's Beth." Daryl glowered at the group at large. "She was taken from me when I got stormed by some walkers. Don't know who took 'er or to where, but I gotta find her. I gotta try."

"Well, shit, son. Why the hell you been keeping this quiet about it this whole time?" Joe asked incredulously.

"I didn't know you guys from Adam...wasn't about to lead a bunch of bandits to try and find her and do god knows what with her...no offense," Daryl added, almost apologetically.

"Hey, brother, none taken." Joe spoke for the group. "I tell you what. We're not that far off from where we first found you." It was true. The group was in no rush to get to Terminus. They had stayed at the garage (where the rest of the group had "taken care" of Len) until late morning, figuring on catching up on sleep while they could. Joe didn't trust the idea of Terminus – something that promising was far too good to be true. They were taking their time, making sure not to miss any tracks from the sonofabitch that killed Lou, in case he'd wandered off the train tracks. "We'll double back and try and pick up the trail. I gotta warn ya, son. It's been a couple days...the trail's probably ice cold by now," Joe continued with a doubtful look in his eyes. Daryl could hear some of the other men shift uncomfortably, not looking forward to back tracking an entire day's worth of distance on some wild goose chase.

"I 'preciate that, Joe. I can't ask you all to do that for me, though." Daryl would be able to hold his own just fine without them. He'd done it before, he'd do it again.

"Hey, we're a team. We watch each others' backs. 'Safety in numbers. No one can survive this world alone." Joe wasn't about to lose one of the best hunters and trackers he'd met because of some lost cause. Daryl had the potential to be a leader in the group, and these men needed strong leaders to keep 'em in line. Rules or no, if Joe was the only one enforcing them, one day they wouldn't be enough. Joe liked Daryl, figured he had a good head on his shoulders (this fool's errand aside) and seemed like he took to the rules quickly. He wasn't gonna let him get away that easily.

"Boys, we're heading back. We'll catch up with that asshole another day." Joe clapped Daryl on the shoulder, smiled with his cigar still firmly embedded in his back teeth, and started back the way they'd come.

xxxxx

In a dark room, Beth's eyes snapped open. She found herself on a concrete floor. There was no light source anywhere. She had two thoughts, almost simultaneously.

"Where am I?"

"Where is Daryl?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Claimed – Chapter 2**

**Picks up at the end of "Us" (Season 4, Episode 15).**

**I do not own any characters from The Walking Dead – just borrowing them for a while. Bethyl.**

**I've gotta say, I was very excited to see so many followers and favorites in such a short time. This is my first time writing anything that wasn't a homework assignment, so I'm pretty nervous. Not sure where anything's going yet...just a couple ideas that have been bouncing around in my head. I'd love to hear from you – let me know what you think! Thanks again for reading!**

Beth shook her head, trying to clear out the cobwebs in her mind. How long had she been out? There was a dull ache spreading from her neck up to her temples – had she been knocked out? She tried to think back to that night. Was it last night? Two nights ago? There was no way for her to tell while inside this pitch black room.

She took stock of herself. Her jaw was starting to ache because of the gag that had been tied around her head. She recognized her shoulders had the same ache before realizing her hands had been bound behind her back. She could still kick her legs freely, so at least there was that.

She carefully rolled onto her front so she could get her knees underneath her and push up from the floor. It took some effort to force herself to an upright position, but she made it. Sitting on her feet know, waiting for her breathing to return to normal, she tried peering around the room. It was still pitch black, only the ghost of an outline of the door to be seen, but it seemed impossibly high.

"Okay, Beth. Think. That's the way out...but how are you gonna pull this off?" she mused to herself. She certainly wouldn't get far with her hands tied behind her back. She tried twisting her wrists to test the ropes, to see if they had any give. The rope slid, just a hair, giving her just a fraction more maneuverability than a minute ago.

"If I can get my hands out from behind me, maybe I can get them loosened more." She continued her forced slow breathing. Moving frantically wouldn't help her out of this situation at all. Daryl had taught her, among other things, patience. She tried standing up, wobbling a little to do so. She slid her bound hands down the back of her thighs, past her knees, her calves. "Almost there!" she thought excitedly. Whether it was from the rush of blood to her head from being bent in half, a mild concussion from being knocked in the back of the head by her abductor, or a combination of the two, her balance just wasn't there. She couldn't get her feet to come off the floor and step through her arms without falling over on her face.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, she began to slowly right herself, her hands returning back to where they had started, the ache in her shoulders returning with a vengeance.

She thought back to her days on the farm, when her father had brought home Nelly, a skittish young mare who took an unusually long time to come around and let Beth work with her. It took constant coaxing, lots of treats and soft words before the horse began to trust Beth enough to let her ride. When the day had finally come, Beth took Nelly on one of her favorite trails on the farm, leading to the brook that ran through the woods that surrounded the farmhouse. Beth could remember the feel of Nelly plodding along, could almost hear the brook babbling across the smooth stones. She recalled vividly the snake that had come from seemingly nowhere and spooked Nelly, causing her to rear back and throw Beth off her back. The snake, thankfully, slithered off as Nelly continued to whinny and buck while Beth huddled into the smallest size she could make herself to avoid getting trampled. Her curling in on herself caused a great sensation of pain to shoot through her shoulder; she instantly knew at the very least that she had landed right on it and dislocated it.

Nelly bounded off, still nickering in distress as she ran. Beth pushed herself up off the forest floor, cradling her right arm, and headed for home. She finally reached the front porch just before sunset. She wandered into the kitchen, knowing she'd find her mother and father there getting ready for supper. Hershel's eyes swept over to her and immediately turned worried, his eyes asking the words his mouth hadn't yet formed. "Beth, honey, what happened?"

"Nelly got spooked by a snake and threw me. I think I dislocated my shoulder." She knew her father would take care of her. He was an established veterinarian, so he'd easily be able to realign Beth's shoulder. His gentle fingers tested the flesh of her upper arm and back. Beth couldn't help but wince in pain from his ministrations.

"Yep, feels like it's dislocated. Just relax, take a nice deep breath. We'll get you right as rain in no time," Hershel told his daughter, visibly shaken from having been thrown from the horse. His comforting smile showed that he was glad it wasn't anything more serious.

Hershel had Beth sit in one of the kitchen chairs, repeated his instructions for her to relax and to straighten her shoulder as much as she could. Beth closed her eyes and focused on her breathing while her father gently moved her elbow, her wrist, twisting her arm and turning it until suddenly - *SNAP* The pain from the dislocation was instantly replaced by a dull ache as her muscles and tendons began to ease back into place after having been stretched.

"That's that!" Hershel exclaimed when it was all over. He went off to get her a sling, some ibuprofen and a glass of water. "Take it easy on your arm for the next couple days. No sense in aggravating it any more than it already is. You were lucky it wasn't any worse." He ruffled her hair, leaving her to take her pills as he helped his wife finish preparing their meal.

Since that day, Beth found it took very little effort to pop her shoulder in and out of socket again, and didn't need her father to re-set the joint for her anymore. Armed with that knowledge, she lifted her arms up toward her head, her hands awkwardly being forced away from her back. She felt the tension in her right shoulder until it popped out of place, allowing her to wind her arms up over her head and in front of her.

Turning away from the faint outline of the door on the one side of the room, she reached her hands in front of her, scuffling her feet along the floor so as not to trip on anything, moving slowly until she came to a wall. She took a deep breath, bore down on her gag, and pushed her shoulder against the wall, forcing the ball back into the socket, audibly sighing in relief. While she normally would have given herself plenty of time to let the muscles in her arm readjust, she just didn't have that option now. She immediately brought her hands to the gag in her mouth, feeling around the side of her face, before reaching over her head to find the knot holding the rag in place. Always mindful of her breathing, she set her fingers to work untying the knot until the rag finally dropped from her mouth. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, working the tension out of her jaws.

Next came the rope tying her hands together. Using her teeth along with her fingers, she began forcing the strands of the rope loose until the knot began to unravel. The strain from moving her hands so much to free herself of her bonds had caused the rope to cut into her skin, leaving her wrists raw and slightly bloody. She rubbed at her wrists with alternating hands, hoping to improve circulation to her fingers, all the while desperately searching for some clue as to where she was, or how she could get out.

She bent down to pick up the rope and the rag. "You never know when you'll need something," she thought to herself, hoping Daryl would be proud of her for thinking ahead. No signs forthcoming in the bleak and dusky room, Beth began to feel her way around, using the wall as a guide. Again, she was shuffling her feet, so she wouldn't trip over anything. She reached high and low with her hands, hoping to find a window, a shelf, anything she could use as a weapon or a way out. The walls were cold, and she could feel the edges of the cinder blocks lining the room beneath her fingertips. She reached a corner, then another, still not finding anything.

She turned a third corner. Suddenly, her hands met with empty space. She shuffled her feet into the space, but her toes were met with a hard surface along the floor. She bent to touch her toes and realized it was a step...then another step. That's why the door looked so far away – she was in a lower level of...wherever she was...and the steps led to the door leading upstairs. It would also explain why she hadn't felt any windows. Beth felt along the walls of the staircase, hoping for a light switch, but there was nothing. Perhaps there was a switch at the top of the steps, but she'd have to investigate that later. She wanted to finish searching the musty room first before moving on to something else.

Beth continued her search, feeling high and low once again along the cinder block walls. Suddenly she felt another opening, but with no steps leading anywhere. Upon further inspection, she felt a door frame but no door – just the hinges. It was a smaller room, she deduced, and continued to follow the wall around until her foot caught on something, then her hands felt it. A piece of furniture, a desk, was sitting against the wall, forgotten by whomever was using this house as asylum. Silently rejoicing, she began opening drawers, praying in her heart that she would find something, anything, to help her escape. There in the center drawer her hands closed around cold metal – a pair of scissors. "It'll work!" she thought as she stuffed the handle into her back pocket. She kept searching, rummaging through papers she couldn't see and found, in the far back of the drawer, a letter opener. Again cheering to herself, she added the sharp metal to her meager inventory of weapons. If she couldn't use it as a weapon, she could certainly use it to try to jimmy the lock and force the door open.

Finding little else of use in the desk, she continued her search of the room. She ended up following the walls back to the staircase, having gone around the room completely and doubling back. Staying close to the walls of the staircase so as not to make a sound, (a lesson she learned from her sister, Maggie, when trying to sneak back into the house after curfew one night...before...) Beth began her ascent. Her heart was pounding in her ears, not sure what she would find at the top of the stairs. She was almost to the top, could feel the door looming just out of her reach, when she heard voices...and footsteps...and they were coming nearer at an alarming pace.

Beth dashed down the steps as quickly as she could, taking one step at a time so she wouldn't bottom out once she reached the cement floor again. She darted around the corner into the smaller room with the desk, ducked underneath and tucked her knees up to her chin, drew the pair of scissors from her pocket, and waited...


	3. Chapter 3

**Claimed – Chapter 3 **

**I do not own any characters from The Walking Dead – just borrowing them for a while. **

**A/N – I never knew what a rush it was to log in and see I have more followers and favorites every day. Thank you all! I made this one nice and long, not knowing the next chance I'll get to update. I'm swamped with working on three separate musicals and contest season for one of my choirs...ah the joys of being a music teacher. Anyway, keep the comments coming! Let me know what you think! As always, thanks for reading!**

Daryl stayed close to Joe as the group headed back the way they came. He trusted them, just not enough to fully turn his back to them. When Joe had announced they were heading back in search of Daryl's friend, it was hard to ignore the grumbling and muttering coming from the group. They had gone along with the new plan, however unwillingly.

"So what're we looking for?" Joe suddenly broke the silence.

The question snapped Daryl from his thoughts of Beth, his imagination running wild with the different scenarios she may have wound up in. "Whaddya mean?"

"Well, you said she was taken from ya. How do ya know she didn't just leave yer redneck ass?" Joe mockingly replied.

Daryl ground his teeth, pushing the fear of that particular scenario aside. "I saw the car that took 'er. It was a Caddy, missing a brake light, dark…maybe even black…and had a big white cross on the rear window." His throat started to get tight at the memory. He'd never forget that night.

Joe asked if the car sounded familiar to any of the group, but no one had anything to offer. "Well, what else ya got?" he turned to Daryl again.

"I dunno, man. I know she's got a hurt ankle, so she can't run far. She dropped her bag when they took her, so I don't even know if she's got a way to defend herself. She's a tough kid, but if she doesn't have her knife…" his voice trailed off as a new fear wrapped itself around his heart. Dammit, how could he have been so stupid? I should'a checked the damn door before I opened it. I should'a kept her with me. Daryl swallowed hard on the lump in his throat, willing himself not to panic.

"Well, she'd have to be tough to put up with a sumbitch like you." Joe heckled Daryl, to no response. "We'll pick up where you left off. Mebbe we'll find somethin'"

"Yeah…maybe…" Daryl fought to keep what little hope he had left alive. He owed Beth that much.

XXXXX

Beth had been hiding under the desk for…who knows how long? There was no way to tell how fast or slowly time ticked by in the pitch black room. She still had an iron grip on the pair of scissors, waiting and hoping she'd be able to make her exit soon.

Finally she heard heavy footsteps right above her, then a gruff voice cut through the silence. "Ahright, ahright, I'll get to it. Just wanna check on the new bitch downstairs first. Maybe she's up for a little welcome into our company."

Beth felt an icy chill run from the top of her head to the base of her spine and a stone sink to the pit of her stomach. She fought to keep the fear from taking over and worked to steel her nerves. She would certainly not be an easy welcome into whatever this 'company' was. She readjusted the handle of the scissors in her hand and prepared for the worst.

Above her, she heard the footsteps stop at the door at the top of the staircase and the door handle click as whoever it was released the lock. Beth heard the door swing open and saw a pool of light hit the concrete floor. A dark shadow loomed into the sudden brightness at the bottom of the stairs. Then she noticed...the pool of light moved...it was rounded. "He's got a flashlight," Beth silently deduced, "which means he's got a weapon in hand...and a way to look around corners." She scrunched back as far as she dared under the desk without making a sound and fought to control her breathing. "It's just like being on a hunt. Remember what Daryl taught you. Breathe too loud, the prey gets away," she reminded herself.

"Fuck! Where the hell did she go?" the large man finally made it to the bottom of the stairs and had obviously realized Beth wasn't where they had left her. Her pulse quickened, her heart racing in her ears; it would be a miracle if this monster of a man didn't hear it himself.

Beth decided she would try to get the drop on him, now that he was confused, before he could find her hiding spot. She slid out from under the desk and flattened herself against the opposite wall of the closet, pressing herself into the corner next to the door frame. The beam from the flashlight ghosted across the room, then swept immediately back, as if the man hadn't realized the room was even there in the first place. His, "What the hell?" confirmed the men who ran this house, whatever it was, had not done as thorough a search of the house as they should have. She heard his footsteps get closer, the beam of light sharpening on the floor just past her toes. She brought the scissors to her shoulder, poised to strike as soon as he was in reach.

Two more steps and the man had passed through the door frame, directly even with her. This was it. With a guttural scream, she pushed herself away from the wall and went to strike her abductor, aiming for the tender flesh where his neck meets his shoulder.

He was too quick for her, and backed up out of the room and out of reach. She silently cursed to herself, knowing she had just lost her most powerful weapon – the element of surprise. She'd have to face him head on now.

The man shone the flashlight right in her face and she was blinded, her eyes having been accustomed to the pitch black for far too long. She dropped her scissors to shield her eyes with her hands and shrieks again, this time in pain and shock.

"Well, well, well...we got us a fighter!" the man chuckled cruelly. Beth heard another voice from above call down the stairs. "Hey Harv! What the hell's going on down there? Ya need help gettin' it done?"

"Nah, Marty, we're doin' just fine," he called back. "Just havin' a little fun is all."

"Well, while yer havin' yer fun, we're goin on another recruiting run. See ya in a couple hours."

Harvey leered at the young girl in front of him. "Sounds like we're gonna have the whole house to ourselves, girlie. If yer good, I'll give ya a proper...tour...in every room in this house." Beth fought a wave of nausea at the horrid thoughts flitting through her imagination as her skin started to crawl.

"Now, we ain't gonna have no more trouble from ya, are we girlie?" Harvey took a step closer, raising his hand up to cradle her cheek. As soon as she felt his touch on her skin, she slapped his hand away, took a step back, and spit right into his face. Her bold move was immediately met with swift retribution – an angry back hand across her face. She could instantly feel the skin on her cheek and around her eye flush from the sudden rush of pain. She kept her eyes, still slowly adjusting to the new sources of light, to the front, an angry scowl and glare crossing her face.

"Look here, you little bitch," Harvey spat at her, "this is gonna go one of two ways. You just let me know how hard you want to make it on yourself, but either way, I'm gonna win." With those words, he backhanded her other cheek, this time causing her to stumble to the ground. The fall caused her to trip over her own feet, and she was painfully reminded that her ankle had not quite healed completely. A stab of pain screamed up her leg, but she couldn't let it show, not for a second.

The next thing she knew, Harvey was kneeling before her, flipping her onto her back, forcing his way between her legs. He had set the flashlight on the ground, giving him the use of both hands and casting the room in odd shadows. His meaty hands grabbed at the button of her jeans, then all but tore her zipper open, giving him the briefest glimpse of her pink cotton panties. "Oh, yes, girlie. We're gonna have some fun tonight."

Beth felt something rough scratch at the skin just above her left hip. She reached down with her left hand while her right hand continued to try to fight him off, reaching to claw at his eyes, but never reaching her ultimate goal. Her left hand made it down to her pocket and grabbed hold of...what? "The rope!" her mind reeled in elation. She wasn't done fighting yet.

In one fluid motion, she pulled the length of rope out of her pocket and wound an end into each of her hands. She swiftly brought her right knee up, firmly connecting with the monster's groin, causing him to yell out and double over in pain. This was her chance – she pushed both hands on either side of his head, wrapped the rope around his neck, put both ends in her dominant right hand and started twisting, wrapping the rope around her fingers, tightening around his throat.

Harvey rocked back on his knees, bringing Beth up with him. The second she could find her footing, she pushed herself off the floor, keeping the rope tight around his neck, and ran out of reach of his arms. She stood behind his back as she tightened the rope even more, pulling with all her strength and deftly avoiding his flailing arms.

She imagined Daryl's voice instead of hearing the man's attempts to catch any breath. "Keep it up, Beth. Be strong. Don't let up. Just breathe." Harvey's movements became slower and slower, his arms beginning to droop to his sides. Her arms were shaking with the force of holding the rope so tight in her hand, but twisted the rope again around her hand, making sure there was absolutely no slack...making sure absolutely no air was reaching his lungs.

He gave one final sound, like a choked off plea for help. Suddenly everything stopped. Harvey had stopped his desperate gasping; there was no movement to him at all. His torso became unexpectedly heavy. Beth kept up her grip on the rope. She didn't want to let him drop to the floor just to find out he was merely unconscious. She put her left hand in front of his nose and mouth and waited. He wasn't breathing. She felt for a pulse on his neck...nothing. She swiftly released the rope, and his head hit the concrete with a sickening thud. She didn't want to have to deal with a walker, and wanted to make damn sure he was dead. Beth grabbed the flashlight from the floor, found her pair of scissors, and stabbed Harvey in the back of the head.

Beth pulled out the scissors with a squelching sound, wiped the blood off on Harvey's shirt, buttoned her pants, stuffed the rope back into her pocket. She checked Harvey for any kind of weapon, but found nothing. "He probably thought he wouldn't need one to deal with me. Dumbass," she thought to herself, not caring to blush at having thought the curse word. She began to go up the stairs. If Marty had spoken the truth, a number of men had left. She'd still have to be cautious, not knowing how many men there were to begin with, but she felt better armed and better prepared for what may come her way.

XXXXX

Daryl, Joe and the others had made it back to the fork in the road where Daryl had first joined them. "Which way now?" Joe turned to Daryl.

Daryl wasn't sure which way to go. It was the main reason he had stopped that morning – not from exhaustion, but he just couldn't find the trail anymore. The autumn leaves from the trees lining the highway had covered the pavement, and the wind had blown them so much he couldn't make anything of it. "Well, you boys know this area better'n me. What's all 'round here?"

Mac, the tall and lanky one, piped up. "Well, down that way ain't nuthin' but a couple farm houses. Cross the tracks and there's a town just a couple miles down."

"Then we head for the farm houses. Too many walkers when you head into the towns. Any group with half a brain among 'em would avoid the towns," Daryl decided.

"Alright. It's settled. Let's take a breather, just ta get some food in us, and then we'll press on. We're gonna need ta find a place to sleep before it gets too dark, anyway." Joe determined.

While Daryl didn't like stopping, for food or for sleep, while Beth was still out there, he couldn't argue with Joe's logic. He dropped his garbage bag, plopped down on the side of the road, reluctantly waiting for the group to finish their break. Out of nowhere, a half packet of crackers appeared in his lap. He looked up to see Joe looking down on him, half grinning.

"Don't need no handouts," Daryl refuted.

"No, I know ya don't, but yer gonna take it anyway. Yer gonna need yer strength when we find this little chickie of yours." Joe had easily deflected the snub. Again, Daryl couldn't argue the logic. He liked Joe, but if...no...when they found Beth, would he be able to stay with the group and keep her safe?


	4. Chapter 4

**Claimed – Chapter 4**

**I do not own any characters from The Walking Dead – I only borrow them for a while.**

**Thank you, thank you for all the followers, favorites and reviews! I've gotta say, this was a hard chapter to write, mostly because after watching the Season Finale I just wasn't sure I could keep going with this story. If anyone wants to "talk shop," PM me – I'm always willing to ramble on about the show! That said, enjoy, and let me know what you think!**

Beth sat at the bottom of the steps, her head in her hands. The physical exertion from taking out her would-be attacker had left her feeling dizzy, and it dawned on her that she hadn't had anything to eat or drink in at least a day, maybe two. Her mind was made up – the next step was to find something to help her regain her strength. If the house she was in was set up with any amount of logic, the kitchen should be just above her. Tucking the scissors and letter opener in one back pocket, the flashlight in the other, and making sure the rope and rag were still in her front pockets, she made her way up the steps, still being cautious. She still didn't know if there was anyone left in the house.

As she reached the top of the steps, Beth craned her neck to try to see past the door frame. Not seeing anyone so far, she dared another step...then another. She was finally on the landing of the staircase, peeking around the corner, straining to hear any noise from the rest of the house. Taking a calming breath, she stepped onto the linoleum and discovered she was right – the stairs had led right to the kitchen.

Beth moved as quickly as she could, keeping as much weight off her bum ankle as she could. She grabbed the flashlight from her pocket and switched it on and began her search, hoping the men who had taken up in this house had the forethought to stock up on food. Sitting on the counter were two large bottles of water. Not caring where they came from, Beth snatched one and tore the lid off, gulping half the bottle down in one go. She started opening cabinets. Luckily, she found packages of beef jerky, a few cans of mixed fruit, and a jar of peanut butter. Beth quickly unscrewed the lid off the peanut butter and dug her fingers in, dispensing with the niceties and focusing solely on regaining her strength. After a second scoop of peanut butter had gone down (with the help of the rest of the bottle of water), she tore open a package of jerky and began gnawing on a large piece, the salty flavor flooding her mouth and causing her to salivate. She didn't want to spend time on finding a can opener for the fruit and decided, if she could, she would come back for it later. Grabbing another piece of jerky, she began her silent search of the house.

It was a comfortable farm house, not unlike her old house from a lifetime ago. A thick layer of dust covered most surfaces, except for the couches and chairs – those had obviously been used recently by the men she had heard earlier. Sitting in a corner was a rucksack full of some well-worn clothes, a lighter, and, at the very bottom, a knife. Beth smiled as her fingers closed around the handle. It was smaller than the one Daryl had given her, but it was more than what she had now. Hoisting the bag onto her shoulder, Beth continued her exploration, and discovered the house had a second story. As she expected, the bedrooms were all upstairs, just as they had been in her old house. Upon further examination, however, these rooms were much, much different...

XXXXX

Daryl had his crossbow ready, his eyes constantly searching for anything that moved, be it walker or prey. The area must have been pretty picked over; he'd been on the hunt for what felt like hours and hadn't seen so much as a squirrel or a bunny. Then, finally, about 30 yards away, a graceful doe wandered into a clearing. Daryl slowly dropped to one knee, giving his aim more than enough stability and taking him out of the line of sight of the deer. He waited patiently for her to come a little closer to him.

As the deer slowly made its way through the clearing, Daryl heard something off to his left, dropped his crossbow and turned slowly to look. His trained eyes couldn't find the source of the interruption, and he turned back to continue watching the deer, re-aiming his bow.

It was gone. He hadn't heard her run away, but she was absolutely gone. Slowly standing up, he peered into the clearing, taking careful steps so as not to make any noise. Something else had taken its place. He could see the top of someone's head…someone blonde…with a ponytail and a thick braid running through it.

His heart leapt for joy. Daryl ran to the clearing, not caring anymore about any noise he may be making. He all but called out to her, to let her know he was there, that he had found her. Her name was about to cross his lips, when he suddenly stopped short, having just crossed into the clearing.

This wasn't his Beth. He looked in horror as she came into full view. Her clothes were ragged and bloody. Her skin was no longer a creamy porcelain, but a dingy gray. Her mouth, normally filled with a smile she freely gave him, was distorted and drooped at the corners, snarling at him as she came further into the clearing. Her steps were halted and disjointed, not like before, where every step was almost a dance in itself, where he could lose himself watching the gentle sway of her hips. What pained him, terrified him, most was when he sought her eyes, once a beautiful clear green, but now they were lifeless, and almost inhuman.

Daryl sank to his knees, letting his crossbow drop to the ground. His heart was filled with grief, hatred, despair, guilt, and then...nothing. He didn't care anymore. Life was nothing without his Beth, there was no hope for better days, no joy left in the world. He couldn't bring himself to take down this monster in front of him; it was still her body, even if her beautiful soul was no longer there. He just sat there and awaited his fate.

He heard the snarling groans getting ever nearer, and hung his head and wept for his Beth. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I couldn't be there for ya...I'm sorry I let you down..." He felt the rancid breath bearing down onto his neck...

Daryl's eyes snapped open and he sat up with a start, all but screaming. He had broken into a cold sweat, his heart hammering in his chest. It had been a dream...a nightmare...the most horrific thing his brain could come up with. His mind slowly began to calm down, along with his pulse, as he gasped for breath and gripped the handle of his bow ever tighter.

Daryl sprang into action; his mind was set. He wasn't going to wait another minute to find her. He had every intention of leaving the group now and tracking her down himself. He gathered his belongings and made to continue the path the group had been taking.

"Where's the fire, Daryl?"

Dammit. Daryl turned to face the owner of the voice, knowing before he saw the face that it belonged to Joe. He debated telling Joe he just needed to take a piss, but when he didn't return, Joe and the group would start following him, and he knew what happened to liars. He didn't care what happened to him, but if he was gone, no one would be looking for Beth. He sighed heavily before answering. "I'm done restin'. Imma get goin', see if I can pick up a trail."

"Now, see, I can't have ya doin' that. I know yer tryin' ta find this girl, but you don' know who she's with. Some rescue you're gonna be with three bolts and a knife against who knows how many? Naw. Let the boys get a couple more winks of shut-eye and we'll head out. Together."

Daryl scowled, hating that Joe was right once again. A niggling thought in his brain made him wonder why Joe was so protective of Daryl, so insistent that he stay with the group, but he didn't have time to dwell on that idea for long. "I'll give ya til daybreak."

XXXXX

The gruesome sight in front of Beth as she crept into the bedroom almost had her throwing up what little was in her stomach. There was a four-poster bed, with ropes and chains tied to each corner. Blood spatter painted every surface in the room. Upon a closer look, she saw blood on the bed at each corner and on the pillows.

The pieces fell into place. These men, whoever they were, would evidently kidnap women, beat them into submission, tie them to the bed and do whatever they wanted with them, apparently until the men grew bored with them or beat them to death. She shuddered at the thought, realizing this would have been her fate if she hadn't escaped from the basement.

Beth tightened her grip on the knife and flashlight in her hands and made for the staircase. She had to get out before anyone came back. Looking at the sky through the bedroom window, it would be dawn soon. She wouldn't have long before she lost the night's darkness to hide her as she escaped.

She hobbled as quickly as she could down the stairs, stopping in the kitchen to grab the rest of the food and stuff it into her bag. She headed back to the living room, where she had seen the front door. She opened it, quickly looking to make sure the coast was clear and was about to hop down the front steps when an idea came to her. She tore off her bag, searching its contents for...the lighter. She grinned, calmly walked over to the main window and clicked the lighter until the small flame spouted forth, igniting the curtains. She walked to the bookcase, grabbed a book randomly from the shelf, and flipped it open, setting fire to the open pages before placing it near a pillow on the couch. She grabbed another book and repeated the process, but left it sitting upright and open on the shelf. Before the flames got too high, she set fire to the tablecloth draped over an end table, then tipped the table over, willing the flames to catch on the old carpet.

In her mind, the fire served three purposes; it would destroy whatever sanctuary these bastards had, it would lure the walkers toward the house for their return (and draw them away from her as she tried to escape), and with that much smoke, maybe Daryl would still be looking for her and would see the smoke and somehow know it was her.

Satisfied with her latest bout of arson, she walked down the steps, leaving the front door standing open, and moved as quickly as she could on her weak ankle. She followed the winding gravel driveway down the hill, staying hidden within the cover of the trees. She ventured as deep into the forest as she dared, not wanting to lose sight of the driveway leading her to the main road. Beth stayed crouched down, not knowing when the rest of the men would be coming back.

She chanced a glance back at the house, glad to see the steady plume of black smoke rising into the dawn-lit sky. Just as she was turning to face the road again, she saw headlights coming up the driveway and fell to the ground, pressing herself down to take up the smallest space possible. The car came and went without slowing. Beth picked herself up slowly, crouching down once again, and all but ran away from the house.


	5. Chapter 5

**Claimed – Chapter 5**

**I do not own any characters from The Walking Dead – I'm just borrowing them for a while.**

**Sorry it took so long to get this update posted. I did warn you - life has been crazy busy this past week. Enjoy!**

Daryl was pacing already as the sun came up. His nightmare had spurred him into action; he was itching to get a move on, and didn't care if his impatience was showing. He made no pretense to stay quiet as the other men started to wake up. It took all the strength he had not to bark at them to get a move on. He was getting close to finding his Beth – he could just feel it.

After minutes that seemed like hours, the group was finally ready to continue their search for the girl. They returned to the road and headed toward the farmhouses that were supposed to be somewhere down this road. Mac commented, "Damn, ya smell that?" The rest of the group automatically began sniffing at the morning air and murmured in consent; they all smelled something burning.

Daryl scanned above the tree line, looking for the source of the smell. Not five miles away was a steady stream of black smoke rising above the horizon. His gut knew it was Beth, remembering that night in the moonshine shack. Beth had suggested burning down the cabin, wanting to destroy their past, only looking to the hope of the future. If he knew Beth, after what he imagined she had gone through, she would want to burn those memories, too. It had to be her, sending him a signal.

Daryl's impatience and anxiety were wearing away at his normally relaxed gait, and he ended up leading the group rather than taking his usual position toward the back.

Suddenly, up ahead, he saw a set of skid marks turning sharply into a hidden driveway to the left. He tried to control his excitement – these could have happened a year ago or a week ago. It's not like these roads were well travelled anymore, so there would be little to cause them to fade over time anyway. He jogged up ahead to examine them further, then turned and waited for the rest of the group to catch up, fighting the urge in his heart to start walking up the driveway without them.

Joe and the rest of the men finally drew alongside Daryl and he pointed out the tire tracks to them. Their reaction wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as his, bringing up the point that the marks could have been made at any time.

"Well, let's head up the drive and see what's there," Daryl suggested, trying to hold his eagerness in check.

"And what the hell do you propose we do when we get up there? What if it's overrun by walkers and we get swarmed? What if they got people on guard duty and take us out before we even get up the hill?" The group at large had apparently lost their nerve…and Daryl was losing his patience.

"What the fuck you think we been walkin' out here for? Whether Beth's up there or not, I gotta know! I'm goin, with or without you pussies," Daryl shouted at them, pissed and frustrated that they were suddenly deserting him. Then he heard it…a soft, feminine, gasp. His eyes darted to the driveway, searching for the source of the sound.

XXXXX

Beth had been careful heading down the hill, still staying hidden in the woods and following the curves of the driveway so she wouldn't get any more lost than she already was. She had reached the bottom of the hill, the road ahead of her just in sight. She decided to stop here while she was still hidden to eat more of the beef jerky and sip on the bottle of water she had left. She sat at the base of a large oak tree, hoping she'd stay concealed in the foliage around her.

Now she was faced with a new dilemma…right or left? She couldn't remember anything about the drive to the house, having been unconscious the whole time. She had no idea which way would take her toward…anything. She continued eating and sipping her water, debating what to do when all she wanted to do was lay down and cry.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there, only aware of the fact that the sun was definitely up above the horizon, so at least an hour after dawn. All of a sudden she thought she heard voices…male voices…and her heart leapt to her throat. Were there more of them than just the ones who had taken the car from the house? She stayed as still as she could, not daring to move and accidently cause any noise to attract the attention of the group. They were arguing about something, she wasn't sure what. Suddenly she heard a voice with a familiar twang, shouting at the other men. "What the fuck you think we been walkin' out here for? Whether Beth's up there or not, I gotta know! I'm goin, with or without you pussies." There was no mistaking that voice.

Her heart raced at the sound of his voice saying her name. She crawled up on her knees to peer over the bush she was hiding behind and saw Daryl's distinctive vest with the angel wings on the back. Beth let out an audible gasp. As she saw him turn around to look, she slowly rose from the ground, coming into clear view.

XXXXX

Daryl turned, his eyes searching, and saw a blonde head of hair come from behind a bush. For a split second, his heart froze with terror as he recalled last night's nightmare. Then he saw her bright green eyes, wide with what looked like disbelief. He felt a thrill come over his body. He swallowed hard, shouldering his crossbow and dropping his bag of belongings. Joe was nearest to him. Daryl began walking toward Beth, saying just loud enough for Joe to hear, "Claimed."

Daryl strode over to her, crossing through the brush alongside the driveway, paying no mind to the branches reaching out between him and Beth. She simply stood there, seemingly in shock at what she was seeing. His arms moved toward her as he walked ever closer. Instead of wrapping around her, his rough hands gently cupped her face. His eyes took in the red marks threatening to bruise on each side of her face, his hands careful not to touch them. His thumbs lightly grazed her cheeks, and he turned her face upward. He brought his lips to meet hers, lightly at first. He felt her surprised reaction, but then felt her melt against him, bringing her hands to glide along his lower back and travel toward his shoulders. He moved his arms, one around her shoulders, the other hand landing along the small of her back, holding her intimately close to him, but keeping the kiss as chaste as he could. Daryl had all but forgotten they weren't alone until he heard someone clear their throat. He growled against Beth's mouth, not wanting to pull away, but knowing he needed to. He stepped back, breaking the kiss.

**There it is. I'm torn on where to go from here. Technically this chapter was the ultimate goal for this story. However, the more I think (and the more wonderful comments I get from you fine readers), the more situations I find myself wanting to add. Thoughts? Reviews? Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Claimed – Chapter 6**

**I do not own the Walking Dead or the characters from it – just borrowing them for a while.**

Beth's eyes fluttered open, gazing up at Daryl in surprise. She was more than happy to see him, to be near him again, but that kiss...she certainly hadn't expected that, nor was she complaining. Her lips still tingled, could still feel the pressure from his. When she had regained some composure, she nervously glanced around – not because someone had seen Daryl kiss her, but that she was surrounded by a group of strange, dangerous looking men. She fought to regain her breath and grasped Daryl's forearms, looking back up to his piercing blue eyes. "Daryl, we have to get away from here."

Daryl swallowed hard, fighting to control his thoughts. He hadn't planned on kissing Beth, the action came as naturally to him as breathing, and it had rocked him to his core. He felt an electric connection to the girl, one he had been fighting since they had been paired up after the prison fell. By the looks of Beth, her pupils dilated and the pulse point on her neck fluttering, she had felt the same connection. Daryl could feel the urge to kiss Beth again, but wrestled it back to the corner of his mind, her eyes showing the panic in her voice. He began to say something, anything, to try to calm Beth, but Joe interrupted him.

"What's a matter, hot lips?" His pet name for her had the men chuckling in an unnerving way, and Beth stepped closer to Daryl, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"The men who took me came back not too long ago. I don't know how many of them there are, or when they'll be back. I'm surprised they haven't come back down the drive yet. They must be trying to put out the fire."

"That or they got swarmed by biters," said one of the men. Beth wasn't sure which.

"If that's the case, we need to am-scray," decided Joe. He was right – either the group was soon going to be surrounded by walkers or her abductors – and Beth didn't want to wait around to find out which would get there first.

They began to walk down the road, the same way they came. Beth kept her arm around Daryl's waist. She told herself it was because her ankle was still giving her trouble, but deep down it was because she felt safer the closer she got to him. As they walked, she felt Daryl's gaze drop down to her and she glanced up at him. A half smile pulled one corner of his mouth up before he began looking at the rest of the group, and the smile faded again. Beth felt his arm come around her shoulders, drawing her even closer.

They had been walking a good mile or so before Daryl broke the silence between him and Beth. He was careful to keep his voice soft, not wanting to include the group in this particular conversation. "So what happened?"

Beth looked up at him, seeing his concern as his eyes raked over her face, his gaze landing on the bruises on her cheeks, then shook her head and lowered her gaze to the road beneath her feet. "I don't really remember much. One minute, I was standing in front of the funeral home. I had just opened my bag, looking for my flashlight and then...black. Next thing I knew I was bound and gagged in the basement in that house." She brought her hand up and showed Daryl her wrist, still red and chafed from her escape just hours ago. Daryl gripped her hand and turned it, carefully examining what damage had been done. Beth could see a scowl start to take over his features, then saw him work to control his expression, trying to stay calm...for her. She continued, "I got myself loose, found some scissors and a letter opener, and waited for them to come get me. A great big guy came down to..."she trailed off, inwardly shuddering at what could have happened. She looked up at Daryl again, his eyes already on hers.

"My god, what's this girl been through?" Daryl thought angrily. "I should have been there with her. I could have saved her from all of this." The knot in his gut tightened more than before, his pulse quickened with anger at the sons of bitches that had hurt her. It took all the strength he had to stay calm for her, but he wanted to go and find each one of these fuckers and take them all down. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his racing mind and pulse; he closed his eyes tight before looking down at her again. "Did he...?"

Beth shook her head, her ponytail grazing the back of his arm. "No, Daryl. I'm alright. He hit me a couple times, and got real close to..." she took a breath. "I got him before he could get me." She smiled, but there was a sadness behind it. "I kept the rope they had used on me and used it right back on him. I killed him." Her voice had grown so quiet, Daryl had to strain to hear it.

"I'm sorry you had to do that, Beth. I shoulda been there to take care a' you. You shouldn't'a been in that situation at all. If I'd've..."

"It's okay Daryl. I remembered what you taught me. I don't like having done it, but I'm almost glad I did. It's weird. I'm sorry I killed him, but I'm not sorry he's dead. He was a monster." She shivered again against Daryl. They walked on a few moments in silence before she began again. "I went through and searched the house. Found some food, a knife, a lighter. They had rooms...bedrooms...they..." her words trailed off again as she fought back the images coming back to her memory. "Daryl, it was awful. I don't know who those men are, but I know what they're capable of. Maybe you're right...maybe there aren't any good people left..."

Daryl shook his head. "Naw, girl. Yer still here," the words came out before he could stop them, wincing at how they sounded. He didn't mind saying the words to Beth, but didn't want the others to think he was soft. He had an idea of what these men were capable of, too, and didn't want them to take advantage of any kind of weakness, especially if that weakness had anything to do with Beth. He glanced around, noticing that none of the others had reacted, and shook his head, almost laughing to himself. "So ya had ta set the place on fire, huh?"

Beth grinned up at him. "Yeah...the house reminded me of the farm. I didn't want them to have anything that nice. And I was hopin' you would'a seen it. Guess it worked, huh?"

Daryl couldn't help be grin back at her. "Yeah, girl. It did. Was good thinkin'." They walked together a few more yards when he asked, "How's yer ankle?"

"It still hurts, but it's not as bad as at the funeral home. I'm just gonna hafta suck it up an' deal, huh?" She wasn't quite limping on it, but it was still too painful to put her full weight on that foot.

"Ya wanna 'nother piggy back?" Daryl winked at her.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll manage," she replied with a slight giggle. She actually wouldn't have minded accepting the offer, but thought better of it in present company. Instead she readjusted her grip on Daryl's waist. "So..." her voice dropped to just above a whisper, "who are these guys?"

The lightness in his voice and on his face faded instantly. Daryl murmured back, "These guys found me at the train tracks a couple miles down this road. I couldn't find anything showing which way you went past that point, and just...stopped." He felt like an ass. He'd given up on her. She was fighting for her life, killing to survive, and he'd given up at the first real obstacle. What the hell kind of man was he?

"So...how'd you get mixed up with them?" Beth asked him. There was no accusation in her voice at all. The knot in Daryl's stomach twisted tighter. She was so damned good...too good for him. He could never be worthy of her. His head dropped a little lower as he tried not to dwell on himself, concentrating on Beth and her safety.

"Joe...he's the older guy up ahead...he's the leader. He said he wanted me to help hunt and track. Guess some assho...ahem...some guy killed one of the group and split, so now they're all lookin' for him for revenge or somethin'. So I guess, since he helped me find you, I'm s'posed ta help find this...guy."

Beth got quiet at that. She was more than thrilled to be back with Daryl. He may not realize it, but he had saved her life in that house, just by her remembering his training. She could see he was upset about something, something more than just being with this group. He had started to lighten up, to joke with her like he had so briefly at the funeral home, but he was quickly returning to his older, more indifferent self. She had the suspicion that it had something to do with her, and with the group, but she couldn't quite nail it down. She knew Daryl, though, knew he was a good man; that his heart was in the right place. He just found himself in really crappy situations. She'd gotten through to him once; she knew she could crack through his tough exterior again. Beth also knew Daryl wasn't exactly happy with this group, but he'd made a bargain of sorts with them. In her eyes, it only proved how good a man he was. He wouldn't go back on his word, even if it was given to men like these. Her heart tightened at the thought.

Daryl spoke again after a few minutes, bringing Beth back from her worrying about him. "They're an alright group. Joe's got his rules, and they work for the group, I guess. If ya want somethin', ya claim it. That makes it hands off to everyone else." His memory flitted back to when Beth first appeared out of the bushes. Thinking back, he wished he'd have claimed her loud enough for all these assholes to hear it. He had been feeling their wayward glances landing on the pair of them...mostly on her. His grip on her shoulder tightened slightly in response. "And no lying. Break a rule and risk a beating...one helluva beating." He recalled seeing Len's lifeless, broken body when they left the garage two days ago and fought a shudder.

Eventually the group wound up at the railroad tracks again and resumed their course towards Terminus. Their pace had picked up considerably from the past couple days, wanting to make up for lost time. Beth and Daryl fell to the back of the group, taking their time on the uneven ties so as not to further injure her ankle. After what felt like hours, they saw a sign up ahead, written on the side of a power box:

"GLENN, GO TO TERMINUS, MAGGIE"

Daryl looked down at Beth, her eyes agape at the message. He saw it all over her face – she was elated at the proof that her sister was still alive, or at least had been not too long ago. He couldn't help but feel her excitement, but a shadow crossed through his mind. What about Beth? Why wasn't Maggie looking for _her_ sister? Daryl grumbled to himself, angry at the older Greene girl. He shot Beth a look, and sadly watched her face fall, mentally kicking himself. He brought his index finger up to his lips and shook his head, and she took the hint. They didn't know how well they could trust this group, and it'd be best not to give them any information until they could trust them with it.


	7. Chapter 7

Claimed - Chapter 7

**I do not own the Walking Dead or the characters from it – just borrowing them for a while.**

**What? Two updates in two days? What can I say, other than I want to see these two safe and happy just as much as you do. I'm getting close to 100 followers, which is super exciting! Keep reviewing! Reviews feed the muse (hey, that rhymed). Who knows? Maybe I'll get another chapter worked out sooner rather than later...**

The sun had started its descent towards the horizon again. Joe figured they had a couple hours left of good light to hunt for tonight's meal before night fell on them. They veered off the tracks into the woods to set up camp and start gathering wood for a fire and start working on finding food. Daryl couldn't decide what to do. Beth needed to rest her ankle, but he sure as hell wasn't leaving her here to fend for herself while he went to find their dinner. He stood there in the camp, wavering between his two options and coming up with nothing.

"Daryl?"

His eyes snapped down to Beth, perched next to a moss-covered log, her bad ankle stretched out in front of her. She gently smiled at him and patted the ground next to her. He took her suggestion, not able to come up with any kind of plan for the moment anyway.

"Sshhh...dinner's on me tonight." She opened her bag and revealed the packet of beef jerky, the cans of fruit, and the peanut butter. She pulled out a bottle of water and offered it to Daryl.

He took it from her, their fingers brushing just slightly, and began sipping, trying to make it last. She handed him a large piece of jerky and he discretely started chewing on it. Beth followed suit. Even if the rest of the men were out looking for their own food, he didn't want someone to wander back and see him and Beth and expect a hand out.

The salty meat tasted like a rib-eye steak to Daryl – much better than the usual roasted squirrel or rabbit they usually had. A low groan escaped from his throat. Beth felt her pulse flutter ever so slightly at the sound...so dark and masculine and...primal. She offered him another piece and he gladly accepted. He felt himself start to relax again, slipping back into the peaceful silence he was accustomed to when he was with her. She reached into her bag again and pulled out the peanut butter. While it certainly wasn't his favorite, it was something. He scooped his finger into the jar, pulled it up to his mouth, and sucked the peanut butter off with a loud smack, making Beth giggle.

Her eyes landed on his mouth and she smiled. "You got some in your beard," she softly laughed. "Hold still." She brought her thumb up to his chin, wiping at the offending stickiness. The rest of her hand rested on his cheek, and he involuntarily leaned into her palm, prolonging the touch as long as he could. Her breath caught in her throat at the action. She started to pull away slightly, but Daryl's hand reached up and covered hers, gently. His lips wrapped around her thumb, his tongue licking the peanut butter, creating just the slightest pressure of suction. Her heart all but stopped, her breath came in heavy gasps.

Their eyes locked onto each other's. Daryl's left hand reached across to Beth's cheek, his thumb grazing the fading mark left there by that son of a bitch. He leaned over and brushed his lips across the bruises on one cheek, then the other, lightly, before placing a kiss on her forehead. He rested his own forehead against the same spot and breathed deeply, trying to control what he wanted to do next. His heart was all but leaping out of his chest for this girl, this woman, next to him. "Stupid," he reprimanded himself, "why the hell would she even go for someone like you? Get over this stupid thing, whatever the hell it is." Was it a crush? Was it love? He resigned himself to never finding out, trying to quash any feelings for her back to the dark recesses of his heart.

Her voice cut through his inner tirade, though it sounded much lower than it had a moment earlier. "Daryl? Are you okay?" She sounded genuinely concerned for him.

Daryl leaned back to look her in the eye; hers were bright and gleaming up at him. "Yeah. Yeah, 'm fine." He went to pull his hand away, but her hand stopped his, much like he had done to her.

"Daryl, don't do that. Don't pull away from me again. What is it?" She wrapped her fingers around his and pulled his hand to her lap, holding his hand there in hers, lightly stroking her thumb across his knuckles.

"'S nothin'" he grumbled, leaning against the log, breaking contact with her beautiful green eyes. He knew that being this close to her, with her batting her eyelashes at her the way she would, he'd be helpless against her, and he wasn't about to go down that road.

"Bullshit!" she said, anger creeping into her usually soft voice. It half startled Daryl to hear her curse at him, but he couldn't help but smirk at her. "Talk to me," she lowered her voice again, trying to soothe him into opening up to her.

"Beth, I...I can't do this. I'll stay with you and protect you, but I can't..." he stopped short, looking at his hand in hers.

"What are you talking about? You can't what? Daryl, we've both fought so hard to find each other again. What's the matter?"

"I'm no good for ya. I'll look after ya, keep you outta trouble, outta danger, but I just can't..." and his words quit in his mouth again.

"You just can't...what?" Beth prodded, bringing her hands to his face, forcing him to look into her eyes. She knew he didn't like opening up like this, but that was just too bad. She needed to hear what had him acting so moody. He was worked up over something, and she wanted to relieve him of whatever it was that was hurting him.

His eyes finally met hers. He took a deep, steadying breath, held it for a second, and released it again. He tried again, trying not to let his anger seep into his words. She didn't deserve to put up with that kind of treatment from him. "I can't be anything more to ya. I can't do this holdin' hands and kissin' ya. I can't even deal with myself right now. Ya deserve better than me, girl. I wasn't nothin' 'fore all this happened, and I'm still nothin'. I'll get ya back ta Maggie, and then..."

"Daryl Dixon! How can you even say that?!" Beth all but screeched at him, mindful of keeping her voice low so as not to scare off any prey for the hunters...or to attract anything towards them. "How can you think you're nothing? Look at all you've done for me!"

"I gave up on ya! I couldn't pick which way ta go, so I just gave up! I left y'alone and just took up with the next group that came along"

Beth saw how this was really eating him up inside. "Yes, but you came back for me." She could see the pain behind his eyes. She shifted to look him straight in the face, pulling her knees up under her so her eyes were level with his. She placed both hands firmly on his shoulders, but kept her voice soft and soothing. "Daryl...I don't blame you for what happened to me. You made sure I got out of the funeral home, away from the walkers. How was either of us to know those guys were going to be waiting for me. The whole time we were at that house we thought it was too good to be true, and it was, but that's not your fault. I let my guard down when I got to the road. I should have seen them coming.

It was because of you I survived when they took me. I used what you taught me to get the hell out of there, to take care of myself. If you hadn't been waiting at the bottom of that hill, I'd probably still be sitting there, wondering where to go, and they likely would have found me again and done God knows what to me. But you were there. There to rescue me again. Don't you get it? I feel safest when I'm with you." With that, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled in close to him, curling her face into his neck. She inhaled and smelled that scent that was so uniquely Daryl. She exhaled with a sigh. "I'm nothing without you. I'd be nothing without you."

Daryl sat, near shell-shocked, for half a moment, then slowly brought his arms to wrap around Beth's tiny waist. He tightened his hold on her, bringing her into his lap, and just held her, breathing her in. He felt Beth relax in his arms, starting to lean back against his hands, and look him in the face again. Her hands stayed behind his neck, her fingers threading through his hair, applying just the slightest pressure, pulling his mouth toward hers.

"Hey Daryl!" one of the men called to him from across the camp. "I caught me a couple squirrels. I'll share mine if you share yours." He had an eerie grin plastered on his face and wiggled his eyebrows menacingly.

Daryl glowered at him, shooting daggers at him with his eyes. "No fucking way, Tim. Back the fuck off," he growled. He wasn't sure if he was more pissed about Tim's ruining the moment, or at the comment he'd just made.

"Aight, man...aight. Just thought I'd offer. You lemme know if ya change yer mind." Tim plopped down across from them.

Daryl tightened his grip on Beth's hips, just for a second, before begrudgingly removing her from his lap. He went to stand up, offering his hand to help her up, making sure she was steady on her weak ankle. "C'mon. Nature's calling." Whether she had to go or not, Daryl decided Beth was coming with him. No way in hell he was leaving her alone with that creepy mother fucker. He shouldered his crossbow as Beth closed her bag and strapped it on her back. Daryl kept hold of her hand as they wandered into the woods. He felt better with her this close, especially now that they'd cleared the air somewhat. As they walked, they'd spotted a couple other of the men on their way back to camp, Tony and Chester. Both men looked Beth up and down unashamedly, leering after her, their intent far from hidden on their faces. He looked down at the girl by his side. She had seen their looks, too, and looked up at him worriedly. His mind was made up.

"Beth, we gotta get outta here. We gotta get away from these guys. I don't like the looks they been given ya."

"I take it they didn't look at you like that when you first joined them?" she asked, trying to get one of those half-smiles she loved so much. It worked, and she smiled back at him.

"No...but I'm not as cute as you." He grinned again as he saw the blush creep over her cheeks and down her neck. "You wait right here. Don't move from this spot." He placed her back against a tree and started to walk away.

"Where're you goin'?" Beth asked alarmingly.

"I told ya. Nature's callin." He grinned over his shoulder as he continued to behind a bush maybe 20 feet away from her. He didn't need the privacy, per se, but didn't think she needed to actually see all that. When he turned around to head back to her, he didn't see her. His head swiveled around, searching, and he called out to her. "Beth!"

"What?" she answered, her head coming up from behind a shrub.

"What the hell, Beth? I said don't move!"

"Nature apparently has more than one phone line."

Daryl stared at her, gob smacked, then started out right laughing at her. They walked toward each other, stopping when they were face to face.

"So what's the plan, Mr. Dixon?" Beth asked. "Where do we go from here?"

He knew what she was asking. How the hell was he going to get her away from these men? He had to act soon. A tiny part of him felt bad about going back on his promise to help Joe find...whoever it was they were looking for. He'd never gone back on his word before, especially not when it was given to someone who had helped him...not that there had been many of those kinds of people. Beth's safety came first, though, that was for certain. He couldn't ask her to stay with these men any longer than was necessary, and the way they were eyeballing her as if she was a piece of steak all the damn time, it was past being necessary. Claim or no claim, he didn't trust these assholes any farther than he could throw them.

"I'll think of something. Tomorrow night is my turn to keep watch. We could leave then, but then we risk them coming after us and...well, you remember what I said happens if you break a rule?" Beth nodded at him, her eyes frightened at the thought. "That's only if they can find us, mind you. I could try and cover our tracks. We'll need to find some kind of shelter for ourselves, and quick. We'll figure it out...we have before."

"Could we just keep following the train tracks? If Maggie's headed to Terminus..."

Daryl cut her off, "We ain't goin' ta Terminus. All who arrive survive? Sounds way too good to be true. Besides, do you wanna go where they'll let just anybody in?"

"I guess not," Beth said, and Daryl could hear the disappointment in her voice. "But, if we follow the tracks, surely they'll lead through a city or something. We could find shelter there, right?"

Daryl regarded her, proud of her to be thinking ahead like that. "Yeah, I guess yer right. Alright, here's what we'll do..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Claimed – Chapter 8**

**As always, I do not own any part of The Walking Dead. That's all Kirkman and Gimple. I'm just borrowing for a while.**

**I've gotta say, I was really apprehensive about keeping the story going, but now I can't seem to stop writing. Part of the reason I'm sure is because I just made a HUGE checkmark off my "list of stuff to do," part because it's really crappy weather where I am, so I'm hunkered down with my lappy top, and part because I'm having serious withdrawals from the show (has it really only been 2 weeks?) and this story at least lets me pretend. *sigh* October cannot get here soon enough. With that, thanks for reading, leave a review if you like. **

Later that night, the fire was starting to die down. Chester was getting ready to take the first watch of the night. Daryl hadn't found any blankets or sleeping bags to make the nights any more comfortable, and Beth only had the few extra clothes that happened to be in her rucksack, so they were both roughing it on the cold hard ground. Never wanting her out of his sight – or reach – Daryl offered the spot next to him to Beth, and she shyly accepted. He laid down by the same moss-covered log they had sat near earlier, turning his back to it. He stretched out his right arm, his hand resting on his crossbow, and positioned his ear against his shoulder. Beth sat down, then stretched out next to him, her back to the fire, and laid her head on his bicep. Her arms were curled up to her chest, her delicate fingers tracing along the seams of his vest. Their knees kept knocking into each other as they both tried to get comfortable until finally they relaxed, letting their legs rest against each other.

Daryl brought his left hand up to brush a loose hair from Beth's face. She looked up at him meekly, painfully aware of how close their bodies were, and felt a shiver, but not from the cold. On the contrary, she could feel herself warming up in Daryl's arms, not sure where these feelings were coming from, but not fighting them either. When her eyes caught his, she swallowed the dryness out of her mouth and softly whispered, "Daryl?"

"Yeah?" He couldn't pull his eyes away from her. She was so damned beautiful, especially now with the low fire light dancing behind her, with her so close to him. He tried his hardest to control his breathing, and was having a hell of a time with it.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"No need to be. This'll work. I gotcha. We'll be fine." He tried to sound reassuring, but truth be told, he was worried they'd be able to pull this off, too.

"I know. Still, just nervous. I hate the idea of staying with these...these..." they weren't men, and animals weren't this creepy. Each one of them was giving off a very bad vibe that Beth could feel surrounding her.

"Ass hats?" Daryl offered.

She smiled at that. "Yes. Total ass hats." He returned her smile.

"Don't worry, girl. I won't let 'em get to ya." He wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her close to him, hoping to keep her warm as well as secure. He ran his hand lightly up and down her back, trying to get her to relax, to get some sleep. They wouldn't be sleeping much the next night, so she needed to rest up now.

A few quiet moments went by. He could hear the other men starting to doze off. He was reaching that point, too. Again he heard her, "Daryl?"

"Yeah?" He wasn't upset in the least. Well, maybe a little upset that she wasn't getting sleep yet, but he loved hearing that sweet voice say his name, especially now that he was so literally wrapped up with her.

"Thank you," she replied, adjusting herself to get a little more comfortable and, he noticed, a little closer to him.

"Fer what?"

"For just being you." She wrapped her right arm under his leather jacket and around his back, pulling him into a weak hug and running her fingers lightly up and down his back.

Daryl looked down at her as she looked up at him again. Their faces were dangerously close. Good Lord, he wanted to kiss her, but didn't trust himself enough to be able to pull away. He just closed his eyes tight and fought for control.

Suddenly he felt her lips barely graze against his, just one soft, swift peck was all it was. His eyes snapped open to find her looking up at him through her eyelashes. He took a minute to reel in his gut reaction to haul off and kiss her with everything he had in him, but it was apparently a minute too long, because he felt her lips on him again, just a little more pressure than before, just a few seconds longer. That did it.

He leaned down to press his lips against hers, lightly, but locking them to her sweet mouth. He felt her start to kiss him back. He ran his fingers from her back, to her hip, up her arm to her shoulder, before finally resting along her neck, her jaw, his thumb landing on her cheek. He increased the pressure against her lips, fighting like hell to keep control. His right arm bent, bringing his hand up to wrap around her shoulders, drawing her even closer.

His tongue gently slid along her bottom lip, and her mouth opened immediately to him, allowing him to deepen the kiss. Their tongues tasted and twisted around each other, neither seemed to be able to get enough. A delicate sigh escaped from her saccharine lips that almost did him in. He grasped at what little control he had left and pulled away, reluctantly breaking the connection between them. The look on her face almost broke his heart, but he knew he had to do it.

He pressed one more soft kiss to her lips, then to cheek, her temple, before resting his lips against her ear and murmuring, "Soon, baby. Soon. Get some sleep."

"Fat chance," she replied sardonically. He chuckled at this, took a deep breath, and started to release her from his grip. She never moved away from him, which he had to admit, he appreciated. He noticed her breathing start to even out, then to slow, until she was unmistakably asleep in his arms. He pressed one last kiss to her forehead before closing his own eyes and nodding off to sleep.

XXXXX

The next day was uneventful for the most part. Daryl and Beth kept up with the group, though continued to trail further and further behind. Beth seemed to be having difficulty walking, making the others believe her ankle was not as steady as she had let on yesterday. Other than that, business carried on as usual, stopping to refill their water when they came to a brook, grabbing a few handfuls of berries each as a small snack on the go, taking notice of the signs for Terminus. They made little progress, thanks to Beth dragging behind. Daryl offered for them to go on ahead, that they would be able to catch up, but Joe wasn't hearing it.

Beth could feel the lurid glances the men kept shooting her way, but now she noticed they were both creepy and angry, and she did not like that combination at all. She gripped Daryl's hand, and he squeezed back, trying to be reassuring. "Ankle still hurtin' ya?"

"Yeah. I must've stepped just right on it or something. Not sure what happened. It was doing better yesterday." She made sure her words would carry so the rest of the group would hear.

"Ya probably just over-worked it, 's all. We need ta get you off it for a while."

Joe called over his shoulder, "We ain't stoppin'. We got some miles ahead of us to go while it's still daylight. You best start hoppin' or healin', I don't much care which, but you've slowed us down enough."

Beth could tell they were testing Joe's patience, and didn't want to tempt fate any more than they needed to. She looked at Daryl worriedly. Daryl fought to keep the smirk off his face. This was going perfectly with their plan. He moved his crossbow to lie across his chest, then bent over, silently offering Beth a piggy back ride. Her arms wrapped loosely around his neck, her thighs just above his hips. He tried to push the memories of last night's kiss to the back of his mind, with little luck, and his imagination began to come up with thoughts...like what if Beth and the crossbow traded places? He shook his head, focusing on selling her hurt ankle to the group, even grumbling a little just to try to convince them.

Even with Beth on his back, Daryl was able to keep up with the group better, and he could feel the tension in the group start to recede. After a few more hours, Joe decided it was time to start setting up camp again. They veered off the train tracks and headed into the woods. Daryl took out his hunting knife and cut a mark into the trees they passed, trying his best to be inconspicuous. Gladly, no one noticed what he was doing. They came to a level spot amidst a circle of trees that the group decided was good enough to spend the night in. Daryl carefully let Beth down onto the ground and helped her over to a spot on the edge of the circle.

Now came the scariest part of the plan. Even though Beth still had the cans of fruit and an unopened pack of jerky hidden in her bag, they couldn't guarantee they'd have many chances to find more food after they left the group, meaning Daryl had to go hunting tonight. He hated leaving her here, even if the other men were hunting, too. There were just too many variables. He handed his larger hunting knife to Beth for protection, then bent over and kissed her, hard, in front of the rest of the group. He pulled away abruptly and glared at the men around him, hoping his actions were speaking clearly – "The girl is claimed. Hands off."

With that, he shouldered his crossbow and headed off with the hope that he could find a squirrel or a bunny or two, and quickly, so he could return to Beth. He walked with his hunter's tread, careful not to make unnecessary noise. His thoughts kept returning to her...to that golden hair, that smile that lit up his world, those eyes that saw all of him, inside and out. His focus snapped back as he saw two walkers shambling toward him. He reached for his knife before remembering that he had left it with her. He instead raised his crossbow, already loaded with a bolt, and fired, easily taking out one of them, then rearing back to swing the butt of the crossbow against the other walker's skull. Satisfied they were dead...again...he bent down to pull the bolt out of the first walker's head, wiped it off on the tattered clothing, and reloaded the crossbow. He hoped Beth's time at camp was less eventful.

XXXXX

After a few hours, Beth's ears pricked up at the sound of someone returning. Hoping it was Daryl, she spun toward the sound, only to see that creep, Tim, followed closely by Joe. She automatically had her guard up, feeling slightly better at Joe's arrival, hoping he would at least keep Tim in check until Daryl got back. She didn't miss the gawking stare Tim sent her way, nor the unnerving smile that accompanied it. She worked to keep any expression from showing on her face. A smile would only encourage him, but so would any fear that showed. Luckily, both Joe and Tim set to work cleaning their kills and settling in for the night.

One by one the men returned, each commenting on what food they'd found and where. As they all began to settle in, Beth felt more and more stares shot her way. Daryl still hadn't returned and she was getting very nervous. She focused on trying not to attract any more attention to herself, though each minute that passed without Daryl's return proved it didn't matter what she did or didn't do. The group of men looked at her hungrily. She kept her eyes on the trees around her, not daring to make eye contact with any of them. She had Daryl's knife tight in one hand, and had palmed the pair of scissors in the other.

"Hey girlie. Whatcha lookin' so nervous for?" Her eyes shot up at the sound. Apparently Chester had kept quiet long enough. "Worried yer man left ya? Don't you worry, sweet thing. Me and the boys'll take good care 'a ya." The rest of the men began chuckling menacingly. They all seemed to have the same thing on their minds, and Beth wanted no part of it. Rather than responding, she just returned her view to the trees, praying Daryl was on his way back soon.

"Hey, bitch, he's talking to you." Tony stood up and took a step toward her. She tried like hell to keep her composure, but felt her cheeks and ears redden. "Don't be fuckin' rude. Here we took your ass into our group, no questions, and you ain't contributed at all. You done nothin' but slow us down. Seems to me it's time for a little payback." He stepped around the fire towards Beth's spot on the outer rim of the circle. Her breathing quickened, hoping she wouldn't have to fight for her life again. "Daryl, where are you?" she worried to herself. She heard the rest of the men starting to get restless.

Joe spoke up, half-heartedly. "Come on now, boys. Play nice."

"Oh, I'll play nice, alright." Tony made his way to her, wrapped his hands around her upper arms and dragged her to a standing position. Beth kept her gaze on her feet, not wanting her eyes to betray just how terrified she was. "Come on, ya little slut. Let's see what's so damned good that Daryl thinks he can keep all to himself."

Beth's arms were trapped at her side; she couldn't use the knife on Tony if she wanted to, the way his fingers were digging into her arms. She could feel his breath on her cheek, dangerously close. She refused to look up at him; he dropped one arm and brought his hand up as if to strike her. She braced for impact.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" Daryl appeared to her right, crossbow armed and ready, pointed straight at Tony's head. She couldn't relax just yet, but her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice.

"Seems I'm already touchin' 'er. What the fuck you gonna do about it?" Tony snarled.

"You want me to tell you or just show you? Let her the fuck go." Daryl was positively growling, his aim still trained directly at Tony.

Beth started to struggle away from Tony, not brave enough to raise either weapon with all these men so riveted on to what was happening in front of them. She knew if she tried anything, it'd be her and Daryl against the rest of them, and she didn't like those odds. Tony suddenly broke his hold on her arm, causing her to fall to the ground. The group broke out in vicious laughter as she picked herself up, remembering to favor her hurt ankle, and thankful she hadn't landed on either weapon she was holding. She hobbled over to Daryl and stood behind him; he kept his bow ready to fire.

Joe tried to reason between Daryl and the group. "Alright, let's just everyone calm down. The boys were just havin' a little fun. Can't say I blame 'em. You been rubbin' this girl in our faces the past couple days, an' we aren't supposed to react? Claimed or no, that's just damn cruel."

"Don't seem like he's 'claimed' her anyway. He's wound tighter than a god damn spring, and she's too damn innocent to have done anything." Tim retorted. "You ain't hit that yet, have ya?" Daryl didn't reply except to tighten his grip on his crossbow. Beth couldn't stop the blush from creeping up her face. "Thought so," Tim acknowledged.

"Don't matter what I do with her. She's supposed to be fucking hands off. What the hell are the rules for if ya ain't gonna follow 'em?" Daryl was ready to unload on all of them. He wished, not for the first time, that he had a pistol, something that loaded faster than his crossbow.

"Settle down, there, Daryl. Ain't no one hurt," Joe said, trying to defuse the situation. "Tony, back off, leave 'em alone. Everyone just relax. Daryl, I'm takin' you off watch duty tonight. Tim, Tony, you two up for it?"

"I'll keep the watch duty. Don't want no one to say I don't contribute," Daryl spat out, revealing just how much he'd heard from Tony's conversation earlier.

"I'll stay up with him, too," Beth piped up, causing a few of the men to snicker at her suggestion. She stepped out from behind Daryl and shot them all a steely glare. She took a breath to steady her nerves. She had to sell this. "What? Just 'cause I'm a girl I can't fight? Well, fuck you all! Did you forget I got out of that hell house on my own? That I survived out there before? I'm standing watch with Daryl, dammit!" She was shaking, not with fear, but obvious anger at the men.

"Alright, little lady, alright. Good luck to ya," Joe said condescendingly with a smirk. "Boys, let's hit the hay. We got some miles to catch up on tomorrow. Get some shut eye." With that the men split off to their own areas, grumbling at losing their chance at a little excitement tonight, whether from a fight or anything else involving the young girl.

As the group dispersed, Daryl lowered his bow and regarded the young woman at his side. He nudged her with his arm to get her attention and mouthed, "Ya did good." She soundlessly responded, "Thank you." He nodded approvingly at her. Together they silently made their way to stoke the fire to cook up Daryl's offering for dinner. He'd managed to bag 3 squirrels and 2 rabbits – more than enough food to last the two of them through the night and probably the next day. This also meant they wouldn't have to spend time hunting, giving them more time to get away.

Beth knew it was necessary for Daryl to find the extra food, but hated him being gone for so long. She was glad nothing had happened to either of them, but things had gotten too close for comfort with these guys. She could feel herself relax a little as the sounds of their snores became more pronounced. Soon it'd be time for them to make their break for it. She couldn't get out of there soon enough.


	9. Chapter 9

**Claimed - Chapter 9**

**Sadly, I own no part of The Walking Dead. I'm just borrowing them for a while.**

**101 followers and 50 reviews? How cool is that?! I'm kind of nervous about this chapter…I hope it comes out okay. I'm sure reviews would help calm my nerves…hint hint…wink wink…nudge nudge. Let me know what you think – and enjoy!**

Beth was too nervous to eat, but managed to force more than a couple bites down. She knew she'd need her strength, and there was no telling when their next meal would be. She felt herself shiver, partially from nervousness, partially from excitement, but mostly because a strong wind had picked up. She could almost smell the rain in the air. As she looked around at the group, she watched the men. Thankfully they were all still asleep, but their sleep was becoming restless with the sudden drop in temperature. "Shit," she thought to herself, and glanced anxiously at Daryl. The look on his face showed that he had noticed, too. Wordlessly, he grabbed some sticks and added them to the dwindling fire, hoping it would be enough to stave off the chill in the air, at least long enough to afford them a chance at escape.

Once the fire was burning brightly again, Daryl stood up and silently finished preparing to leave. He had pulled out the long sleeved shirt that they had found in the rucksack for Beth to wear; it would help protect her from the elements, but it was also a drab color that would help conceal her in the forest. Any advantage he could give them would help. He made sure Beth's ankle was wrapped well and her boots were tied tightly. Beth swore her ankle was doing fine, but Daryl wouldn't take any chances, especially when it came to her safety. He had already left her to fend for herself more than he liked, and didn't want to tempt fate any more than he had to.

Daryl looked down at Beth, who had followed his lead and stood next to him. "Ya ready?" he asked softly.

"About as ready as I'm gonna be," she replied, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice. She hoped her smile would make her look less nervous than she really was. The look on Daryl's face indicated otherwise.

"Hey…"He put his warm hands on her shoulders and rubbed up and down her upper arms, trying to be supportive. "It's gonna be okay. You remember what yer lookin' for?" She nodded up at him, her eyes betraying just how apprehensive she was about actually doing this.

Beth ducked her head under his chin and wrapped her arms around him. He couldn't help but reciprocate the action, pulling her close to him. Daryl pulled away slightly, and without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her, softly. He felt the slightest pressure of her returning the kiss. He released his hold on her and immediately sought her bright green eyes again. "Alright, Greene. Let's get to it," he whispered. She took a shaky breath and nodded up at him. It was now or never.

Daryl shouldered his crossbow and Beth's rucksack. He had packed as much extra weight into the backpack that he could find, including some rocks Beth had found around the campsite They wanted to weigh Daryl down as much as they could so it would look like he was actually carrying Beth on his back as he had earlier in the day. He would have to stomp around in order for his tracks to look convincing; there was no way they could fit enough rocks to match Beth's weight into the bag. Still, every little bit would help.

He nodded at Beth and she withdrew her knife and flashlight, and began walking toward the opposite side of the campsite, closest to the train tracks. He watched as she began moving awkwardly through the brush and bramble. He saw her stagger around a little, not walking in a straight line at all. He hoped to God this would work. She had been learning how to track from Daryl, and could identify walker tracks. Now he just prayed she could reproduce them accurately enough. He saw the beam from her flashlight light up the bark of the trees. Daryl knew he had to trust her, though he couldn't stop from worrying about her. Reluctantly, he turned away from her and headed off in the opposite direction. He had more ground to cover, and wanted to be sure Beth wouldn't be waiting for him for long.

He began stomping away, not following any precise path. Normally he'd be careful not to disturb the bushes or branches that crossed his path, but this time he wanted to leave a definite trail, wanting the rest of the group to follow him rather than Beth. Daryl fought the urge to rush. If he ran, like he wanted to, they would know he wasn't really carrying Beth. He had to keep his pace relatively slow in order to make it look convincing.

He kept a relatively straight course through the trees, aiming for the stream he had found earlier. Hopefully Joe and his boys would think they'd waded through the water so they wouldn't leave any more tracks...and they'd be right. Daryl would use the rocky creek bed to cover his trail as he continued his roundabout way back to Beth.

After reaching the stream, Daryl headed north, upstream. Now he could pick up the pace. He could also lighten his load a little, scattering the rocks in the bag here and there as he walked. He finally reached his checkpoint, where he had left a large, leafy branch, maybe a mile from where he first started walking through the stream. The branch would help in covering his wet tracks. He began heading northeast, still in the direction of the train tracks, but also leading away from the campsite. He could afford to move more quickly than before now, and was careful to not disturb the foliage as he had before. He knew Joe's men weren't the best trackers – that's why they needed Daryl's help to find the man they were after – but they'd be able to pick up obvious signs like he'd been leaving earlier. Daryl was confident he'd be able to hide this part of trail from them well enough.

It was well over an hour, maybe two, when Daryl reached the train tracks again. Careful to tread only on the wooden railroad ties so he wouldn't leave footprints in the dirt and gravel that lay between the beams, he made his way back south. He walked the distance to where they had left the train tracks earlier, marked by a large honeysuckle plant on the edge of the woods. He glanced around, but couldn't find Beth. He distinctly remembered telling her to wait by the flowering bush for him, that it would provide enough cover from walkers or anything else that came her way.

He forced himself to be patient for five, maybe ten minutes, before panic began to set in. What the hell had happened? Where was she?

The wind that had started up before they left began to pick up speed, and Daryl noticed the clouds moving in to cover the moon, plunging him into pitch black darkness. He was a good tracker, but he wasn't good enough to find her in the woods in the dark. Fighting every instinct he had, he remained where he was and forced himself to sit against a large walnut tree and trust Beth to make it out on her own. He hoped it would pay off.

Fat raindrops began to fall around him.

XXXXX

Beth did her best to stagger around convincingly through the brush and bramble. She recalled all the walkers she had seen, especially when she had helped clear the fences surrounding the prison. They all seemed to move by dragging their feet along the ground, rarely in a straight line...almost as if they were a bunch of drunks. Smelly, gruesome, hungry, decaying drunks. They also only used their arms to reach out and grab their prey, so she tried to keep her hands hanging at her sides, letting the branches that crossed her path brush against her as she moved.

Keeping the knife in her right hand and the flashlight in her left, she silently ambled through the forest, veering left and right at random, drunkenly. Beth wanted to conserve battery power, so she only clicked it on every ten steps or so, scanning the trees. Daryl had marked a path on their way into the woods for her to follow out. She didn't want to stay too close to his path, fearing that Joe and his group would notice the notches carved into the bark of the trees and make following them too easy. She did her best to keep the notches on her right for a while, then ventured far to her right to put the notches off on her left, even taking care to back track a little. She figured that Daryl was going the long way around, so she had time to make sure and do a thorough job.

She had just started turning her path back toward the train tracks, when she froze, her ears picking up a sound breaking the silence. There was a slow shuffle, the definite sound of leaves and small branches being stepped on, then finally, the sound she'd come to dread most – the deathly growl of a walker. It was still a ways away from her, she could tell, off to her right. She didn't dare turn on her flashlight while it was near her. She prayed it was only a lone straggler and not just the beginning of a herd. She readjusted her grip on the knife and focused on her steps, hoping the walker was heading in the opposite direction...towards the camp...and would leave her alone. Maybe it had smelled the campfire and was drawn to the scent of all the cooked meat.

She wasn't so lucky. She could hear the growls getting closer though she continued her staggered walk. She had to keep it as consistent as she could, no easy task with a walker getting ever nearer. She kept up her pace as long as she dared before shuffling around and facing her "walker stalker" head on. She stood, waiting for it to close the gap between them, taking notice that the walker following her was a female who couldn't have been much older than Beth...at least when she had died the first time. She steeled herself, then easily slid Daryl's hunting knife into the girl's temple, dropping her instantly.

Beth couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in herself at taking out the walker so effortlessly. However, now she was faced with a new dilemma. If Joe decided to follow her pseudo-walker tracks, they would find this twice-dead walker and know that her tracks were a fake. She wracked her brain, trying to come up with ideas, trying to think like Daryl. She couldn't stand to risk those awful men following her and Daryl. The best thought she could muster was to follow her own tracks back the way she came and double back, a couple times if necessary. She knew Daryl would still probably have a ways to go until he made it to their meeting spot, but she was running out of time. At this rate, he'd get there before her. It couldn't be helped, though. She had to do her part to keep them safe. She resigned herself to using the precious batteries in her flashlight to find her way back along her own tracks. Every once in a while, she would veer off course and loop back around, hoping to throw off anyone who may be following her.

Beth continued this way until her flashlight began to flicker and dim. She hurriedly switched it off, hoping she didn't have much further to go. She'd spent so much time backtracking, she needed a minute to remember which direction she needed to start heading. The wind that had picked earlier was blowing stronger now, and she noticed the clouds starting to move quickly in front of the moon. She needed to decide fast before she lost all her light to find Daryl's notches in the trees. By sheer luck or the grace of God, whichever it was, she saw a marked tree just ten feet in front of her. She ambled to her left another ten paces, then veered in the direction the last notch had indicated. She wouldn't come out exactly at their meeting spot, the honeysuckle bush, but she'd figure that out when she got back to the railroad tracks.

Looking up ahead, she thought she saw the trees beginning to thin out just as the moon was completely covered with the swift-moving rainclouds. She kept her slow, stumbling pace, trying to keep her pounding heart from dictating her speed. She trudged along, still swerving, avoiding making a bee-line toward the forest line. She hated being away from Daryl, hated making him wait on her, hated this feeling of uneasiness without him. It was more than just needing him for safety or protection. She needed him. The thought of being dependent on Daryl in so many ways scared and delighted her all at once.

Her thoughts flitted to the night before, when he held her in his arms. She still couldn't believe how bold she had been to reach up and kiss him...twice! She remembered how it felt when he had finally kissed her back, how his hand had cradled her face, how his goatee felt against her skin. Just thinking about kissing Daryl, feeling him pull her body against his, caused a warmth to spread through her, centering low in her stomach. She felt her face flush hotly as her mind continued to reminisce.

Her thoughts must have been wandering more than she realized. Realizing too late, her foot caught on a tree root and she began to fall forward, bringing her hands up to catch her fall. She wasn't hurt, was just shook, and thankfully the knife's handle stayed under her hand. Now her face was burning from embarrassment, thankful no one was there to see her act so clumsily. She lay on the ground for a moment, listening to make sure she was still alone, then climbed to her feet again, being sure to clear the root this time, and continued on her way.

She refocused her thoughts on getting to the train tracks. The trees seemed to be thinning out as she continued her serpentine pattern, the air seemed a little less dense. She felt a slight relief knowing that she was getting close, until she felt the first sprinkling of raindrops. All things considered, it wasn't terrible. She at least had an extra layer on to keep the chill out. Hopefully she wasn't too far off course and would be able to find Daryl quickly and they could continue their plan without many more obstacles.

In a matter of moments, Beth finally found the edge of the woods. Though she could barely see, she felt the texture of the ground beneath her change slightly, felt the incline leading up to the railroad tracks. She remembered the last notch she had seen was on her right, so she headed that direction, careful to tiptoe on the wooden beams between the rails. It felt good to not have to drag her feet anymore.

The rain was starting to pick up a little, big fat drops splattering the ground around her. The wonderful scent of the falling rain invaded her nostrils, mixed with the faintest trace of something flowery. She looked up hopefully, scanning the tree line for the honeysuckle bush. She had to be close. Feeling daring, she clicked on her flashlight again, scanning quickly. Not finding what (or who) she was looking for, she clicked the light off and continued down the tracks.

XXXXX

The rain hadn't let up; in fact, it had only started to come down heavier. Daryl was getting more anxious by the second. He'd never felt so helpless. He wanted to get up and start looking for her, but with no light to help him, and no idea which direction she had wandered, he knew it'd be a better idea to just wait. He needed to trust her... and he did. She wasn't the weak, vulnerable little girl he'd met two years ago at the farm. She wasn't the glorified babysitter from back at the prison. She was a brand new Beth, stronger and more confident than he'd ever thought she could be. She surprised the hell out of him every day. Despite his foul mood, he couldn't help the corners of his lips turn up just thinking about her. His smile grew as he thought about her, what they'd been through together, how she had changed him in that short time. He thought of her bright eyes, her easy smile, her soft lips against his…

He shook his head as his smile immediately returned to his customary scowl. What was he doing? This certainly wasn't the time to think that way about her. He was her protector first of all. He had vowed to himself to keep her safe and sound. Kissing her wasn't going to help in all that. He could easily lose himself in her sweet kisses, her warm embrace, but that only made both of them vulnerable. No, he needed to tighten that shit down. He couldn't afford to risk losing her for any reason, especially not because of his desire for her.

God, how he wanted her, to wrap his arms around her and never let her go. He still didn't think he deserved to be with her. She was so far out of his league, he felt crazy for even entertaining the idea of being with her.

But she had kissed him last night; she initiated the whole thing. Granted, he'd gone along willingly, and he'd even stopped it from going any further (man, he wanted to take it further). He wouldn't, though. He couldn't. Regardless of what she said, he wasn't good enough for her. Daryl shook his head again, trying to clear his thoughts. His head and his heart were telling him two different things, and it was driving him crazy.

Just by that, he could swear he saw a flash of light off to his left. It wasn't bright enough to be lightning. Daryl stood up and walked up the slight hill to get a clearer view down the tracks, but it didn't do a damn bit of good with all the rain falling around him. He stayed planted in the middle of the tracks, waiting – for the rain to let up, for another flash of light, anything. He thought he heard a change in the pattern of raindrops in front of him, and squinted against the water running down his face, trying to see what caused it.

Daryl saw another beam of light searching along the tree line, which was gone as quickly as it had appeared. He stepped toward the source, and heard the sound of raindrops landing on fabric. He couldn't help but grin. "Took ya long enough," his voice cut through the rain-soaked night between them.

He heard Beth's startled gasp, then saw the beam of her flashlight ghost over him, then vanish again. He heard her light footsteps growing closer, then the sound of her knife returning to its case. He felt her fingers graze along his arms, up to his shoulders and around his neck before pulling him down for a kiss.

**I apologize if you think their escape was a little convoluted. I wanted to make sure to cover all angles…didn't want Joe's group to be able to follow Beth and Daryl easily. I'm not saying whether or not they'll even go after Beth and Daryl, just want to be thorough. Daryl may be a redneck, but he's not dumb, and neither is Beth. **

**I've got an absolutely hectic two weeks coming up. I'll update when I can, but please, forgive me if you don't hear from me until after May 4 (when all items on my list of things to do will have great big checkmarks next to them!). **


	10. Chapter 10

**Claimed – Chapter 10**

**I do not own any characters from The Walking Dead. Just borrowing from Kirkman for a while.**

**Oh, what a relief! With the school year wrapping up, I've only got a couple more things on my checklist of stuff to do, but the super major things are all DONE! And there was much rejoicing. Last night was the first actual good, solid sleep I've had since...gosh...November? it felt GREAT! **

**Special shout-out to Hearts1989. She's got two great stories she's been working on – Accepting Love and Vanilla Fields. You should check them out and leave her some love. Simply because she's amazing.**

**Thanks for sticking with me. I know two weeks is a long time to wait for an update. Hope this chapter is worth the wait!**

Daryl wrapped his arms around Beth, pulling her close to him. Her arms tightened around his neck; her lips parted slightly and Daryl instantly deepened the kiss, letting his tongue caress hers. He didn't think he'd ever get enough of tasting her.

They could have been there minutes or hours, holding each other, pressed against each other intimately close. Beth couldn't help but think that all those romantic movies she had watched with Maggie, the ones they usually made fun of, had all been right. Kissing the man you loved in the rain was about as romantic as you could get.

Had she really thought that? Did she love Daryl? He certainly meant a lot to her, and why wouldn't he? He had been there to protect her, and the group, at the farm house, the prison, and now that it was just them, it was clear that his priority was making sure she was taken care of. She remembered the little things he had done for her. He even made sure her first drink was worthwhile, not that damn peach schnapps. It was obvious he at least cared about her. He even suggested them staying together in that funeral home...just them.

Before Beth could really get lost in her thoughts, Daryl broke the kiss. She could swear she heard him groan as he pulled away. "We best head out. No telling if this rain will wake up Joe and the others." Reluctantly, Beth nodded in agreement. The trees were a lot thicker at the camp they had just left behind, but would they be able to block out enough rain to keep them from waking up? "C'mon, girl. Let's get goin'." He turned her in his hands to face the way she had just came, then began walking next to her. On pure impulse, she grabbed his hand, interlacing her fingers with his. She couldn't help but smile when he didn't pull away.

XXXXX

Beth and Daryl had been walking for a while along the train tracks, always mindful to keep their feet on the ties so they wouldn't leave any foot prints behind. If all went well, Joe's group wouldn't be able to follow them easily anyway, but they agreed to err on the side of caution. While the rain would help to hide any trails they had made earlier, the soft, muddy ground would cause them to leave very easily recognizable tracks. They might as well leave a neon sign saying, "They went that way!" No, they had to be especially careful now, even though it meant moving slower to keep their trail hidden in plain sight.

As they walked, the rain had let up. Beth could remember her father swearing by something passed down from his father and his father before him. Those old farmers knew a thing or two about a thing or two, he had said. Hershel had said that if it was raining little drops, it would rain all night, but if it was big, fat drops, it'd be over quickly. As per usual, the old farmers were right – the rain had stopped and the clouds began to drift by; the moon came out from its hiding place behind them and illuminated the puddles left behind. Every once in a while the wind would pick up and the drops that remained on the leaves on the trees lining their path would rain down on them.

The sky began to brighten with the impending dawn. Beth couldn't help but look over her shoulder to see if anyone had started following them. So far so good, she thought. There was no sign of anyone behind them. She knew better than to get her hopes up so early, but she couldn't help but feel her shoulders start to relax. She looked up at Daryl and saw the hardness still set in his jaw. "Just what is going on in that mind of his?" she wondered.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Beth offered. Daryl's eyes snapped down to hers. He looked upset, like something was weighing on his mind, but she couldn't decipher what it was.

"Just thinkin' is all."

"Gettin' a headache?" Beth teased. She knew she should be treading lightly. Taunting Daryl while he was lost in thought could be a slippery slope, but she needed something to break the silence. He was too quiet for too long, and she was about to apologize when he answered.

"Smart ass," he said, narrowing his eyes at her, trying to look menacing, but his grin gave him away. "Just tryin' ta figure out what ta do next. I figure we need to find some place to catch some sleep and hide out for a while."

"Is that all?" Beth prompted. The tension in his jaw had lessened some, but his shoulders still looked tight.

"All you're gonna get for a penny."

"Daryl..." she rolled her eyes at him. Beth pulled on his hand, keeping his attention. "Talk to me."

Daryl shook his head and focused his eyes back on the ground. "Nah. Later. Need ta focus on findin' some place safe."

Beth wasn't convinced, but decided to drop it. Serious Daryl wasn't easy to get to lighten up, and he did have a point. She looked back to the train tracks. Up ahead the trees seemed to open up as the tracks veered to the left. The way Daryl straightened up and looked ahead, she knew he had seen it too. Wordlessly they quickened their pace.

XXXXX

The gravel gave way to actual pavement as they neared the clearing. To their left was a small town, the main road lined with brick buildings. A few blocks down Daryl saw several cars and...was it...yes, an ice cream truck...as if the people here before had tried to circle the wagons to keep themselves safe in the center of the circle. Judging by the twice-dead walkers laying around the cars, he guessed it worked, at least for a while. He didn't see any people walking around, and didn't see many walkers either. He stopped on the tracks, facing the worn down little town, Beth siding up next to him. He looked down, seeing her small hand still enclosed in his, and grinned briefly before straightening his face and meeting Beth's gaze. "Ready to take a look around?"

Beth nodded at him and grabbed her knife out of its holster. "Let's get to it, Dixon," she said, trying to sound tough like Daryl, hoping to get a smile out of him. It more than worked; he actually laughed. He squeezed her hand one more time before releasing it, and brought his crossbow up and aimed it ahead of him, ready to shoot if needed.

They walked past the first couple buildings, figuring they'd be pretty cleared out since they were closest to the edge of town anyway, not to mention the doors were standing wide open, and that could only mean danger inside anyway. They opted for a two-story building further down the street, past the circle of cars. The windows were boarded up already, making one less thing they'd have to worry about. Daryl tried the doorknob, but it was locked. "Figures," he thought out loud. He swung the crossbow around and busted the glass in the door. There was a piece of cardboard lining the window, which Daryl knocked down to the floor, then carefully threaded his arm through the hole he had made and unlocked the knob. Beth kept her back to the door, on the lookout for any walkers coming toward the noise of the window breaking. To her relief, she didn't see anything moving.

As they entered the building, they found themselves in the hallway of an apartment building, the previous tenants' mailboxes lining one of the walls. Daryl brought his fingers to his lips and whistled loudly, then they both waited to hear anything coming from upstairs. Daryl nodded to Beth and jerked his head toward the door. She understood his meaning and closed the door quietly and relocked it. She picked up the cardboard and replaced it, hoping it made the building look as deserted as it had before. She turned back to Daryl in the dim light as he began making his way up the stairs. There were small windows running up the stairwell that provided enough light so they wouldn't trip on their way up.

When they reached the landing at the top of the stairs, Daryl whistled again, and got the same results. This building was truly abandoned. "Guess it's safe. You check this side, I'll get this side," Daryl said. Beth tried the knob on the first apartment. Locked. Of course. Daryl began his search, finding the same outcome.

Suddenly he heard Beth gasp and the unmistakable sound of a door creaking open. He swiveled around to see Beth looking at him, her eyes round with excitement, and a smile plastered on her face. He brought his crossbow up again, not taking any chances, and quickly searched the apartment, the closets, the bathroom.

Beth made her way in after him, closing and locking the front door behind her, and began looking for supplies they could use. She was in desperate need of a change of clothes – the over-sized shirt she had on was still damp and, truth be told, she wanted something much warmer than an old cotton shirt. She began to rifle through the closet in one of the bedrooms and found a comfy looking sweatshirt. Not wasting any time, she unbuttoned the wet shirt and pulled it off her shoulders. She realized her tank top was still pretty damp and clinging to her, so she peeled that off too. She had just gotten it over her head when she heard Daryl clear his throat behind her.

"Jesus, Daryl!" She shrieked as she grabbed for the sweatshirt and pulled it against her chest, turning around to face him. "You scared the crap out of me!"

Daryl looked away abashedly for a moment, staring down at the floor, then returned his gaze to her, his hooded eyes growing darker by the second, a certain determination growing there. He dropped his bow and the rucksack down at his feet with a clatter and crossed the room to stand in front of Beth. He cupped his hands around her delicate face and just looked in her big green eyes before closing his own and bringing his lips to meet hers. He kissed her lightly at first, leaving soft little kisses against her tantalizing mouth, until he felt her kiss him back. He heard her sigh against him, felt her melt into him. He pulled away slightly, resting his forehead on hers, just long enough to whisper, "God, you're beautiful," before returning to kissing her.

Her fingers dropped the sweatshirt from in front of her and pressed herself against his chest, grabbing onto the front of his shirt, anchoring herself to him. As he continued kissing her, she ran her hands up his chest, grazing over his shoulders, before making her way back southward, over his stomach, feeling the rock solid muscle beneath his shirt. She had just started fiddling with the lowest button on his shirt, had popped it through the button hole and was starting on the next one when Daryl pulled away.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't a done that." He stooped down quickly and came back up, handing her the sweatshirt. She brought it up to her chest again, but didn't put it on.

"I agree. You shouldn't have snuck up on me. But why the hell did you stop kissing me?" Beth tried to keep her voice under control. Oh, how this man did things to her. Her mind was absolutely reeling after that kiss, and her knees had turned to jelly. She was thankful the bedroom was small; if she had to take more than two steps to get to the bed to sit down, she might not have made it without falling over.

"I'm s'posed ta be protecting you, not kissing you. An' especially with you..." his voice trailed off, but he brought his hand and gestured toward her. She realized she still hadn't replaced her shirt, and quickly brought the sweatshirt over her head and put her arms in the too-big sleeves. She noticed Daryl react to her being fully clothed, but couldn't decide if it was a good or bad reaction.

"Daryl..."

"No! What the hell was I thinkin', anyway?" He turned to leave the room, and had just put his hand on the strap of his crossbow when he heard her sigh in frustration.

"Daryl, stop!" Beth said, more forcefully than she had meant to. She didn't want to scare him off, not now, not when her pulse was still racing and her lips were still tingling from being pressed against his. She worked to soften her voice, "Please come here."

As if he could deny her anything. Daryl took a deep breath, dropped the strap, and faced her again, not moving from the doorway. "Oh, that will never do," she thought, and patted the space next to her on the bed. He stepped cautiously toward her before sitting on the bed, though she noticed he had put a good arm's length of space between them. He rested his forearms on his knees and stared at the floor.

"Daryl, look at me," Beth softly pleaded. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder, expecting him to jump at her touch, and was beyond pleased when he didn't. "Well, that's something," she thought. She scooted a little closer and leaned forward, peering at him until he finally turned his head to face her, his steely blue eyes locked on hers. "Daryl, you are protecting me. Look at how far we've come, how far you've brought me. If it wasn't for your plan, we'd still be stuck with those ass hats in the woods." She didn't miss the small grin that crossed his lips, though it was probably more from her swearing than from the point she had just made. "You've done everything you could to keep me safe. But what about you? When do I get to take care of you? We're a team, right? You don't have to be such a hard ass all the time."

"I still shouldn't a kissed you. Not with you...lookin' like that."

Beth rolled her eyes at him and grinned. "Daryl, I've worn bathing suits that covered less than what you saw." She shook her head at him playfully. "You surprised me, that's for sure, but..."

"But...what?" Daryl forced down a swallow, his eyes looked nervous again.

"But...I like kissing you," she answered shyly. She could feel her cheeks heat up as a flush crept up her neck and onto her face.

His eyebrows popped up at that, his eyes wide with surprise. Beth noticed a slight blush cross his cheeks, too. He forced another swallow, trying to maintain his composure. He fought to keep his voice calm, "Yeah?"

"Yeah...I really do," she flashed him one of her smiles again and he turned his body to face her better, bringing his knee up on the bed. She scooted a little closer to him, noticing her pulse starting to pick up again. She mirrored him, bringing her knee onto the bed, keeping her hand on his shoulder. She brought her other hand and placed it in between them. He glanced down at it, looking at it with curiosity first, then, painfully slowly, he brought his hand to meet hers. Her heart skipped a beat as their fingers touched.

"C'mere," Daryl said huskily, licking his lips and bringing his left hand up to caress her neck. She leaned forward, meeting him halfway, and their lips met, picking up right where they had left off. He threaded his fingers through her loose ponytail; his tongue licked at her bottom lip and she opened to him, meeting him every step of the way. His trained ears didn't miss the soft moan that escaped from her lips as she came up to breathe, and he smiled against her. He dragged his mouth away from hers and peppered kisses down her long, alabaster throat. Her breath hitched as he kissed and licked his way down to her collarbone, pulling the neck of the sweatshirt out of the way so he could seek out that pulse point at the base of her neck.

As his lips wandered over her skin, Beth brought her arms to his chest, reveling in the feel of him beneath her fingers. She found the edges of his vest and pushed them back over his shoulders. He moaned as he released her so he could get out of the vest, sending a chill through her. His arms came back to her, wrapped around her, his large hands splayed along her back, his fingers twisting the fabric that covered her. Beth kissed him anywhere she could as he continued to kiss up and down her throat – his cheeks, his temple – until she caught his earlobe between her lips. Before he could react, she lightly nipped at the skin with her teeth. His head snapped up, his eyes boring into her, and she felt a nervous giggle bubble up and escape. His face darkened, and a wolfish smile crossed his lips.

He chanced a glance at her and noticed her neck becoming more and more red, he realized from the scruff on his chin and cheeks. "Good," he thought, and another idea crept into his mind. He returned to kissing along her throat, but now added gentle love bites, relishing every time her breath caught at each little nip. He heard her gasp as he bit down a little harder, then lavished the spot with his tongue. His lips pressed against her skin, he increased the pressure, and he felt her fingers lace behind his neck and into his hair.

She could feel him leaving his mark on her neck, and loved the fact that he was marking her, claiming her, as his own. Now she needed more. She wanted to feel him against her. She brought her hands from his neck, over his strong shoulders, and down to his chest, where her fingers set to work unbuttoning his shirt. When he realized what she was doing, he stopped kissing her, just momentarily. She hoped she hadn't gone too far too fast. When he began kissing her again and pulling her closer to him, she continued until Daryl was all but bare chested in front of her.

She ran her hands over his chest, delighting in the curly hair that lightly covered his chest. This was all new for her. Between Jimmy and Zach, neither had much body hair at all. And while she had made out with both of them, it had never been anything as hot as this. She quickly pushed the boys out of her mind. Daryl was no boy; there was no way she could compare them to him.

Beth ran her fingers over his chest, lightly grazing over his nipples. She felt him start again, heard his breath catch, then a low growl came from his throat. She ran her hands back up his chest, along his shoulders and down his arms. Pressing very gently, she pushed his hands closer to the hem of her sweatshirt, down to her hips, hoping that he'd take the hint.

Apparently her subtlety was not lost on Daryl. He pulled back and looked into her eyes, asking a silent question with his expression. Beth wiggled a little closer to him and nodded, then started to kiss along his neck as he had done to her. He let out a soft chuckle and kissed along her temple, then caught her ear between his teeth, applying slight pressure. She continued licking and tasting him, and he swirled his tongue along her ear, causing her to gasp loudly. He chuckled again, and began to ease his fingertips underneath the thick fabric of her sweatshirt. He had just made contact with the skin along her sides when he heard her squeak and he leaned back abruptly. He looked nervously at her, but she was still smiling.

"It's okay. I'm just a little ticklish," she said softly, then kissed him on the lips again. His tongue darted greedily into her mouth as he ran his fingertips up and down her sides, enjoying the feel of her skin, so smooth and soft. She wiggled against him, trying not to react to his light touch. He brought his palms to her sides, his fingers running along her back and his thumbs tracing along her flat stomach. He ran his hands up and down, loving the feel of her, daring to push higher and higher until his thumbs skimmed against the fabric of her bra. Her breath hitched and he froze. Part of him wanted to pull away completely – he had definitely gone too far now. The other part couldn't bear to tear away from her.

Beth brought her lips to his again when her breath returned to her. She nodded against him and whispered, "It's okay." She felt one of his strong hands wrap around her back, pulling her close, delighting in how his rough callouses felt against her skin. She felt his other hand slowly make its way up to cup her breast, tentatively, as if Daryl was afraid of moving too fast. His warm palm covered her, and she let out another gasp. She felt her nipple tighten against his palm; he must have felt it, too, because he brought his fingers back to brush against the budding peak. She'd never felt anything like this in her life.

She almost cried out when he took his hand away, but his mouth claimed hers again. She felt his fingers run under the elastic of her bra, and then his rough hand was touching the delicate skin of her breast. She mewled against him and without thought, shifted her hips toward him. He rolled her tight nipple between his thumb and forefinger, eliciting a rough moan from her sweet mouth. God, the things this man did to her.

Daryl kissed his way across her cheek and lightly bit down on her earlobe, then touched his tongue to the spot directly behind it. Both hands had wrapped around her, and she felt him fiddling with the clasp to her bra. When it finally released, his fingertips dragged across her skin to her front to cup both breasts in his large hands. She wasn't a big girl, but his hands were filled perfectly with her. He grazed his thumbs against her nipples.

She pulled back suddenly and he looked at her guiltily. "Here it comes," he thought, "I went too far. Dammit, I knew I'd fuck this up." Instead of yelling or backing away from him, however, her hands went down to the bottom of her shirt and began to slowly pull it over her head. She was just about to reveal her chest to his hungry eyes when...

_GROWL_

His expression changed. He looked at her in shock. "Was that you?" He couldn't help but smile, holding back a laugh.

She sheepishly let the fabric drop back down, her eyes lowered. Her expression was one of total embarrassment. "...yeah... I guess I'm kind of hungry," she mumbled

Daryl chuckled as cupped her face and kissed her quickly on the lips. "Don't worry about it, baby. We haven't eaten in probably twelve hours or so. I'll see what kind of food is left in here, plus we got that left over squirrel from last night. 'Sides, what kind of protector would I be if I let you waste away?"

Beth smiled at him, grateful he wasn't making a big deal about her stupid stomach killing the mood. He kissed her again, a fraction longer this time, as if he was trying to kiss her embarrassment away. It was working...a little. She couldn't decide if it was a good thing or not that they had stopped when they did. The reassuring look she saw on Daryl's face when he pulled away from her told her this wouldn't be the last time. No, this was just the beginning.


	11. Chapter 11

**Claimed – Chapter 11**

**I don't own Walking Dead…blah blah blah…**

**Thanks for all the reviews from that last chapter! I know a lot of people thought it was funny/cute to have Beth's stomach growl in the middle of…everything. I'm trying to keep this as realistic as I can (well, as realistic as one can when the characters are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse…). Nothing kills the mood like "bodily noises," amiright? These two just aren't ready to go all the way, especially not the first time they're really alone and somewhat safe. I want to keep them in character as much as possible, true to the show, not just what my Bethyl-addled imagination really WANTS them to do. To quote Daniel Tosh, "Oh, don't worry, baby birds, I'll feed ya." **

**I've probably said too much. Enjoy. Review. Tell your friends.**

Daryl got off the bed and walked to the tiny kitchenette off the main room of the apartment. He pressed his palms against the cool counter top and hung his head, breathing slow and deep, trying to get his pulse to return to normal. He reached down and adjusted himself, his erection straining against the zipper of his jeans. Lord, what this woman was doing to him. His mind kept drifting back to what had just happened between them, an instant replay of her lips on his neck, her breasts filling his hands. She had given back as much as she had taken. Could this really be happening? Did she want him as much as he wanted her? He could still hear her breathy moans in his ears, urging him on as he savored the taste and feel of her against him.

He breathed deeply again, fighting for control over what his body wanted – to go back to her, lay her down on that bed and make sweet love to her. Daryl shook his head. God, had he really just thought that? Since when did he ever want to make love? He'd never really had any type of girlfriend, just the lonely women he'd met in bars looking for a quick screw. Hell, half the time, when he'd been with any of them, he'd never even gotten fully undressed; he'd found release and that was it, and if they got off too, wonderful for them. Beth wasn't like them. She wasn't just a girl good for a screw and then leave. She was a girl who deserved everything this world had to offer; who he could see in his future; who he could fall in love with.

He took another steadying breath, willing his body to get under control. Slowly, he felt himself start to relax, and adjusted his pants accordingly. Daryl decided he needed something else to occupy his mind, so he set to the task of finding Beth something to eat.

He started rummaging through the cabinets, coming up with a couple boxes of crackers, some dry soup mix, canned veggies and fruit, and more peanut butter. Man, he hated that stuff, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and even he could only take so much squirrel meat. He brought the crackers and peanut butter to the small kitchen table, then started looking in the drawers for a knife. He found the silverware, along with a can opener, then sat himself at the table. Not long after, Beth joined him, sitting on her foot on the chair next to him. Seeing her bare shoulder peeking out of the too-big sweatshirt, her hair slightly mussed and her face still flushed, had his pulse throbbing again. Seeing his hickey on her neck nearly did him in. He couldn't help but stare at her. When she looked up at him, he shot her a grin, then turned to grab the peanut butter and wrenched the lid off the jar. He presented her with the butter knife and the jar before getting up and grabbing a couple water bottles from their rucksack.

Beth used her extra-long sleeve to wipe the dust off the table, then started spreading the peanut butter over the crackers, creating a little meal for the two of them. She snuck a glance as Daryl was bent over the rucksack, admiring the view, and smiled to herself, blushing. She had made out with Jimmy and Zach before, but what she had done with Daryl felt like so much more than that. They had kissed before, but never anything as intense as what they had just done. Her smile grew as she remembered how his hands had felt on her bare skin. She shivered slightly at the thought as her imagination began to take hold. What might have happened if her stomach had stayed quiet? Was she ready for whatever came next?

Daryl returned to the table, his shoulders seemed to tense up. Beth wondered what was up; he seemed to have been enjoying himself just a couple minutes ago. What had happened in such a short time? She buttered another cracker and slid it over to him. He reached out to take it, their fingertips brushing, sending what felt like an electric current up both of their arms. They both looked up and stared at each other, each confirming what the other had felt. She half-smiled at him, and he returned her smile briefly before straightening his face again. This time it was her turn to frown. "What's wrong?"

He glanced up at her, seeing he'd upset her. He popped a cracker into his mouth, avoiding having to answer just yet. She saw through his plan, however, and opened up a bottle of water before plopping it down in front of him. He looked up at her again, narrowing his eye as he did. She was quick. He smirked as he finished his mouthful and washed it down with some water. "Just thinkin' again."

"Need another penny?" she joked with him.

"Oh, ha ha, smart ass," he griped back at her, taking another sip. "I just…I don't know what we're doin' here."

"What do you mean? It's just crackers." She was trying to keep things light for him, he could tell, and he appreciated it, but he needed to get this out.

He gave her a look. "You know what I mean. What just happened in there…are you okay with all that?"

Beth shot him a full on smile. "Of course I am. You're…you're a really good kisser," she said with a little giggle. She felt a warmth spread over her chest as she remembered the feeling of his hands on her.

Daryl blushed a little at that. "I just don't want you to feel like I'm takin' advantage of ya. I'd never do that, Beth. Not to anyone. Especially not to you."

"I know that, Daryl. I don't feel that way at all." She leaned over and placed her small hand on top of his, her thumb tracing over his knuckles, glad that he didn't pull away from her touch. Upset Daryl was always hard to gauge as far as how he'd react to being touched. "I told you, I like kissing you. I…wouldn't necessarily mind doing that again…" She started tracing along the back of his hand with the tip of her pointer finger.

"Is she flirting with me?" Daryl wondered. It sure has hell seemed like it. This brought a whole new level of nervousness to him. This was all pretty new to him; any women he'd had before just kinda threw themselves on him. There was very little flirting involved. He wasn't sure what to do, so he just sat and stared as her finger traced invisible patterns on his hand. He closed his eyes, trying to think of something to say, something to do, when he felt her pull her hand away and start to stand up. She moved behind him. "What're you doin?"

"Relax, Daryl. You look tense," Beth said softly. She brought her hands up along his arms, feeling his biceps under his shirt, before resting along his shoulders. Using her palms, she began rubbing up and down the top half of his back, soothing the muscles beneath her touch. She gradually increased the pressure, using her thumbs and fingertips, discovering and massaging all the knots and tension she found.

At first, Daryl couldn't help but tense up. He couldn't help it – he wasn't used to being touched except in anger, especially on his back. Just being around Beth made him anxious and relaxed all at once. The more she worked her magic on his shoulders, however, the more he let his guard down. At least his back was still covered by his shirt, which he noticed was still unbuttoned, but didn't care enough at the moment to fix it. Her thumbs started working a particularly stubborn knot of muscle and he couldn't help but let out a low groan. He hung his head down, feeling his muscles start to relax and stretch under her knowledgeable fingers.

Satisfied at the progress she had made on his shoulders, Beth started to run her fingers along his neck, working at the tightness there, too, before running them up into his hair, massaging his scalp. She started at the nape of his neck, working her way around to his temples and up toward his forehead. He leaned against the back of the chair, letting his head drop backward. She stepped a little closer, her breasts brushing against the top of his head, and bent down to kiss him on his forehead.

His eyes snapped open, meeting hers instantly. She didn't back away, but smiled and kissed the tip of his nose instead. Beth stood on her tip toes and pecked him on the lips. She went to back away, but his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. He whirled her around to face him again, her eyes wide with surprise, a smile growing on her sweet lips. He gently pulled on her wrist; she stepped closer to him. His other hand reached up, grabbed her waist, and brought him down into his lap.

Beth instinctively wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. "Feeling relaxed now?" she asked teasingly.

"Far from it, actually," he said as he pulled her down to kiss her. He wouldn't take it as far as they had earlier. He just had to feel her pressed up against him again…just for a little while. He ran his tongue along her soft lips, seeking entrance to her sweet mouth. She opened to him, and he brought up his hand to rest along her cheek. He fought every urge to pick her up and bring her back to the bed. He just couldn't do that to her. Though he'd never asked, he had a feeling she was a virgin, and didn't want to pressure her to do anything. She had said she wouldn't mind kissing him again, and he was more than happy to give her that.

Beth started to squirm on his lap. At first Daryl thought she was just trying to get comfortable, then he thought she was teasing. It dawned on him that he was getting a little too excited...and Beth couldn't help but feel him growing beneath her. He pulled back from her, both hands landing on her hips, trying to hold her still. He looked up at her, trying to hide his embarrassment, but wanted to see her reaction. She looked down at him confused, about to ask him again what was wrong, when Daryl saw the look of comprehension cross her face. She giggled shyly, "Daryl...something you want to tell me?"

"Some things can't be helped, darlin'." He brought her down for one more kiss before lifting her gently off his lap. "Need to give him a break before you get me too excited and start something we can't finish."

"I'm sorry, Daryl. I didn't mean to..."

"S'alright. Just need a minute to cool down. We oughta go through the rest of the apartment, see what's all in here."

Beth nodded, blushing as she glanced down at his lap. She couldn't help it; now that she knew what had happened, her eyes were just drawn there, noticing the large lump that had grown in his pants. Her blush deepened and she forced herself to move, beginning her search in the kitchen for more food.

There wasn't much there they could use. Daryl had already taken some things from the cabinet and placed them on the counter. She did find lots of Ziploc baggies and containers, which would definitely help in keeping any food they found fresh. At least it was something.

Hanging on the inside of one of the cabinet doors was a key on a keychain. Beth took it off the hook and examined it. There was an 'M' stamped onto one side. "What an odd place for a spare key," she thought. She walked into the next room, where she saw Daryl going through a small file cabinet. "Hey, Daryl, what do you think this is to?" She dangled the key at eye-level. He reached out and took it, looking it over.

"'M'? What is that?" He seemed just as confused as she had.

She shrugged. "What'd you find?" Beth asked, nodding at the file cabinet.

"Dunno. A bunch of files, but they're just marked with numbers. No clue what they are."

Beth put it together first. "Daryl, this is like...the manager's apartment. The guy who keeps an eye on all the tenants. This," she held up the key, "must be a master key. I bet we can get into any of the apartments with this."

Daryl stared at her. Damn, she was smart. "Well, hell, let's go explore." He grabbed his crossbow and hoisted it over his shoulder and unlocked the front door. He held it open and bowed. "Ladies first."

Beth made sure her knife was on her hip and walked out into the main hallway. She headed to the door closest to the stairwell and put the key in the knob. It turned easily, the door opening before her. She was about to walk in when Daryl's arm shot across her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Better safe than sorry." He raised his crossbow and scanned the room. Just because they hadn't heard anything earlier didn't mean these apartments weren't completely clear. If these walkers had been locked in here for so long, maybe they were just slow on the uptake. Well, slower on the uptake than the normal walker. Satisfied that it was safe to go in, he gestured to Beth to follow. It was dark in the room; Daryl crossed to the window and opened the blinds.

There wasn't a ton they could use. Clothes mostly, but they could only carry so much of them. It would be nice to have some heavier clothes with winter getting close. Beth made her way to the kitchen to see what kind of food they could grab. Daryl started going through the dresser drawers in the bedroom. Buried at the bottom of the top drawer was a small box filled with some very recognizable foil wrappers. "Well, this is a predicament," he thought. He didn't want to assume this was the road he and Beth were on. He sure as hell wasn't about to suggest it to her. Still, it seemed like a good idea to be prepared...just in case. He grabbed the box and stuffed it into his back pocket. He continued his search for anything useful when he heard Beth shriek from outside the bedroom.

Daryl rushed out to her, worry plastered on his face. "What the hell? What's wrong?" She looked fine, standing in front of the kitchen cabinets, looking at something in her hands. She turned around slowly, a look of reverence on her face.

"Do you know what this is?" Her voice sounded low and intense, thick with realization. Daryl just cocked an eyebrow at her. "This is the best stuff on earth. It's Nutella, and it's still got the freshness seal on it. They must have just bought it before everything happened."

"What the hell is Nutella?" Daryl appreciated her enthusiasm over...whatever the hell this was...but his patience was being tested.

"Nutella is...I can't even explain it. It's like peanut butter, but chocolate-y. You just have to try it." She raced back to the first apartment; he couldn't help but follow her, his curiosity getting the better of him, her enthusiasm infectious. He had just walked through the doorway and she all but ran into him. He caught her by the shoulders, keeping her from falling. She was positively beaming at him, offering him a cracker with a daub of the dark brown spread on it. "Try it. You'll love it."

He raised his eyebrow at her again, taking the cracker from her. He sniffed at it, and it smelled like she said, nutty and chocolaty all at once. He popped the whole thing in his mouth, chomping down on it, tasting the salty cracker first. Suddenly he stopped chewing as the spread began to melt on his tongue. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed, his mouth still full. He chewed slower, savoring the taste.

"So you like it, huh?" Beth teased, offering him a second cracker before preparing one for her.

"It's pretty good! Better than peanut butter, that's for damn sure."

"Glad I could be here for your first time," Beth said, fully aware of the innuendo. She sent him a wicked grin, then laughed. "Isn't it the best thing you've ever tasted?"

Daryl finished chewing before saying, "Nope. Second best." Then he grabbed her around her waist with one arm and planted a scorching kiss right on her lips. She melted to him, wrapping her hands around his neck. She groaned a little when he released her, too soon for her liking. "Come on, girl. Let's see what else we can find." He let her walk out to the main hallway again before smacking her butt playfully. She turned and cast him her wicked grin again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Claimed – Chapter 12**

Beth and Daryl continued their search through the rest of the apartments. They decided that anything they found that could be useful they would just bring back to the first apartment and go through and pack things up later. After a while, Daryl was the one scavenging while Beth stayed in the apartment, sorting through everything. Daryl had found a large, military grade duffle bag and had started using that so he wouldn't have to make as many trips. This made sorting through everything a little more difficult, simply because there would be a huge amount of stuff all at once, and Beth would have just barely made a dent in the pile when Daryl dumped another load onto it. Her frustrated glare didn't escape him, but he couldn't help but think how cute she was when she got mad.

After Daryl had cleared out all the apartments on one half of the hallway, he decided he was getting pretty tired and hungry. They had been working most of the day, not to mention having walked all night escaping from Joe's group. He returned to where Beth was working, and saw her seated on the floor of the living room, folding up clothes to fit better in the bags they had found. There was a pile of medical supplies: bottles of pills, bandages, a couple first aid kits. Next to that were all kinds of toiletries. She had organized all the food he had brought her, cans of veggies, beans, fruits, and even some tuna and meat, along with boxes of stale cereal and some rice. They had several kinds of snacks, sweet and savory. It was like the people who had lived here hadn't packed at all – just up and left it all behind. One even had a little portable cooktop and some cans of propane to fuel it. It would be good eating tonight, that was for sure.

Daryl started to set up the mini-stove while Beth continued to fold clothes. He broke the silence, "What do you feel like for dinner? Probably oughta eat that squirrel 'fore it goes bad. Hate to waste it when the canned stuff'll keep."

"Yeah, that's fine, as long as we put something on it to help. There should be some barbecue sauce over there," she gestured to the pile. Daryl grabbed the bottle, then took out a small pan to cook up the squirrel meat.

"Anything else ya want?" Daryl asked. "We got corn, carrots, green beans..."

"Green beans are alright," she responded, not really caring one way or the other.

Daryl looked at her closer. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, I guess. I'll probably go to bed right after dinner."

"Aight. Sounds good. You pick your room yet?" Daryl asked, opening the can of green beans and pouring them into a smaller pot.

"My room? Aren't we staying in here?" Beth got up and walked over to Daryl and the cook top. She found some salt and pepper and added it to the green beans. It had been a long time since they got a chance to season any of their food.

Daryl looked at her, noticing how comfortable it felt being so close to her...so...domestic. It was an entirely new sensation for him, and he wasn't fighting it. "Well, yeah, if you wanna stay in here. Just thought maybe you'd be more comfortable in one of the other rooms. Go take a look, see what you think."

Beth sent him a questioning look, but didn't say anything. She made her way out the door and headed to the end of the hallway. She didn't understand why they couldn't just stay in the manager's apartment. There were two bedrooms. Granted, there was only one bed; the second bedroom had a workout bench in it, but there was still the couch in the living room. They'd both have a place to sleep that wasn't the ground. She decided to humor Daryl.

She'd already been in the first apartment down the hall, remembering it was only a one-bedroom, nothing special about it. Beth walked in the next apartment, her eyes nearly popping out of her head. It was absolutely in shambles. If it hadn't been locked, she'd have thought walkers had already gotten into it...or bandits. Upon further inspection, she realized the floor was all but covered in take-out boxes, pizza boxes, empty cans and bottles, and paper plates. She kept looking around and saw on the entertainment center every gaming system she'd ever heard of. This must have been some single guy's place, not necessarily a bachelor pad, but a gamer's haven. The longer she stayed in the room, the more the smells began to invade her senses. No, she wasn't staying in here either. She turned to leave the room, closing the door behind her.

Feeling a little like Goldilocks at this point, she went on to the next apartment. There was a matching couch and loveseat, lots of pictures on the walls, glass coffee table – Beth felt like this would be something like she would have had when she moved out of the farmhouse. She ventured into the bedroom. There was a queen size bed with a cozy looking comforter and lots of pillows. As tired as Beth was, it looked like Heaven.

She looked around the room and saw a chest of drawers on the opposite side of the room, the top covered with picture frames. She walked over to get a better look in the fading light. There was a couple on their wedding day, all smiles and love reflected in each other's eyes. Engraved in the brushed silver frame was an inscription that read, "Scott and Christy – Two Hearts, One Soul." Tears began to prick her eyes. She couldn't help but wonder what had happened to them. Did they get out? Were they safe? Her tears started to flow freely, silently.

She heard his soft footsteps in the living room, but didn't turn around when Daryl entered the room. "Hey. Dinner's ready." All Beth could do was nod. She didn't trust her voice to not betray the fact that she was crying over complete strangers. She tried to calm herself down as his footsteps drew closer to her, stopping just behind her. "I had a feeling you'd pick this one."

Beth spun around and wrapped her arms around Daryl's waist and buried her face in his chest. He jumped a little at first, but ended up putting his arms around her. She started sobbing against him. He just held her for a minute, letting...whatever this was...run its course. He was completely lost as to what to do. He had very little experience actually talking with women. Hell, the times he'd talked with Beth far outweighed any other times with any other woman. When he thought it was safe, he asked softly, "You okay?"

"I'm sorry. I was just going through the apartments and I can't help but wonder what happened to all these people? It's like...one day they were here and the next they were gone. It doesn't look like anyone packed anything, they weren't prepared for anything. And now we're here living in their home, going through their stuff. I just...I hate this."

Daryl was about to say something, but couldn't get it out fast enough. She continued, "Then I started thinking about Maggie and Glenn, about Rick and Carl, about everyone. Where did they go? Are they alright? Will we ever see them again? Is the Governor still out there? What about Joe – are they gonna be coming after us?"

Jesus, is this what went on in a woman's head? Daryl didn't even know where to start, so he just kept listening. "And now I'm just so tired and hungry, and I feel like I'm always tired and hungry. I feel like I can't do anything, that I just depend on you for everything, and I hate feeling helpless, and..."

"Beth?"

She looked up at him, her bright blue eyes bright with tears. He couldn't help but smile down at her. He brought his hands up, smoothed down her hair, and cupped her face. He placed a soft kiss against her lips, then another on her forehead, before looking down at her again. "I don't have all the answers. I don't know if we'll ever see any of the group again. I hope to hell The Governor and Joe stay the hell away from us, but I promise you, no matter what happens, I'll protect you. What I do have is some dinner for you, and it looks like you picked out a nice place to sleep. Let's just start there, huh?"

Beth swallowed then smiled up at him. "Okay."

Daryl dropped his hands to his sides. He offered his hand to her, and she accepted. They walked back to the manager's apartment hand in hand. Daryl had found some plates and had set the table for the two of them. Beth's heart fluttered in her chest – this was about the sweetest thing he'd done. She looked up at him and flashed a smile before laying her hand along his right cheek and kissing his left. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Ain't nothin'. 'S just food."

She didn't want to argue with him, but it was so much more than that. He was doing more than just protecting her – he was really taking care of her. She could feel herself getting warm standing there next to him. This was more than her caring for him, and more than a crush. In that moment, Beth realized, she was falling in love with Daryl Dixon. She couldn't tell him that – she knew he'd go back to being the silent, moody Daryl she had known from the prison. No, she'd keep this secret to herself. She didn't want to scare him. He had enough to deal with.

Beth sat at the table, appreciating the effort Daryl had put into dinner. He'd even found silverware and set it out. She picked up her fork, for what felt like the first time in forever, and speared a piece of squirrel meat and dipped it in the barbecue sauce, which definitely helped. It was nice to have a hot meal, not sitting on the ground, not having to be on guard. She looked over at Daryl, who was shoveling food into his mouth at an alarming pace. "You know, you can take your time and actually taste your food. You could even chew it if you wanted," she teased

Daryl glanced up, swallowing a large mouthful. "Sorry. Force of habit." He was glad to see her joking again. He hated seeing her cry. It made him feel absolutely helpless. He tried to think of something to add to the conversation. "We oughta set up a noise trap for the stairwell. Just in case."

"Okay. I'm sure we can find something. I know there's a bunch of junk in that gamer's room."

"You saw that one, huh?" Daryl chuckled. "Figured you wouldn't like that one."

"That reminds me – how did you know I'd like that room?" she pointed with her fork toward the apartment she had just been in.

"Just had a feelin'" Daryl said, and Beth thought she saw a blush cross his cheeks. "Dunno. Just seemed to fit ya is all. Soft and warm and cozy." Yeah, Daryl was definitely blushing now.

Beth smiled at him, giving him a look. "Warm and cozy, huh?" she teased again.

"Shut up," he muttered. He slumped back in his chair, groaning slightly.

"You okay?" Beth asked, a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah, my back's just hurting. Just sore is all. I'll be fine."

Beth looked down at her plate, focusing on stabbing the green beans with her fork. "Would another back rub help?" she kept her head down, but looked up at him through her eyelashes. She couldn't believe she'd said it, but she really wouldn't mind feeling all those muscles under her fingers again.

"I might take you up on that. Depends on how long you stay awake." Just as he finished his sentence, Beth let out a quiet yawn. He couldn't help but chuckle at her timing. "See?"

"I'll be fine. You done?" Daryl nodded, and she took his plate and hers to the sink. She tried turning on the faucet, but no luck. "Well, that's that."

Beth came back and sat at the table. A hush fell between them. "There's some fruit in a can if you want dessert."

"Maybe later. Gotta get some noise makers first," Daryl started to get up.

"Do you want some help?" Beth stood up again.

"Only if ya wanna. It'd go faster if you did." He walked over to the pile in the living room, looking for some rope he'd found earlier. It was getting hard to see in the apartment with the sun sinking over the horizon...not that much light could get in through the boarded up window anyway.

"Alright. I'll go grab some cans from that gamer's room."

"Meet ya downstairs."


	13. Chapter 13

**Claimed – Chapter 13**

Once they had set up the noise traps downstairs and Daryl was satisfied with how secure the door to the main entrance was, Beth and Daryl headed upstairs for some much needed sleep. Beth stopped in the manager's apartment. She remembered seeing some comfy pajama pants in the pile in the living room. She grabbed them and a big t-shirt, then headed back to her room to change. This time she made sure to close the bedroom door before getting undressed...not that she minded all that much what had happened the last time when she had left the door open.

She started removing some of the extra pillows from the bed and turning down the covers when she heard a knock at the door. She smiled to herself, amused that Daryl would be so gentlemanly as to knock even when they were the only two in the building. "Come in!" she called out.

Daryl walked in, his eyes drawn immediately to the sight of Beth bent over near the bed. His heart started pounding in his chest. He shook his head, trying to clear his senses. He didn't need to be thinking like that now. "Just came in to say g'night."

Beth turned and looked at him. Daryl had found some sweat pants and a wife-beater to sleep in. Her jaw all but dropped to the floor. "Is it getting warm in here?" she thought to herself. His arms were almost always exposed, but she had never seen him this dressed down, this unguarded. It may have been the first time she'd ever seen him without his crossbow. She blushed and quickly cleared her throat. "Oh. Um, good night." She watched as Daryl started to turn to walk out of the room. "Daryl, wait!" She breathed a little easier when he stopped. Then he turned those baby blues on her and her heart started hammering again. "Um...what about your backrub?" she asked nervously.

He regarded her for a second. "You sure it's not too late?" He knew he was tempting fate, but couldn't help it. He wanted to be close to her, to feel her hands work their magic on him again.

"No, it's okay. Come lay down. Unless you wanna go to your room." Beth patted the bed she had just turned down. She stepped back as he shuffled his feet across the floor before flopping down on the bed.

"Nah...I'm here now." Daryl said, his voice muffled slightly by the pillows left on the bed. Beth swore she heard a smile in his voice.

She leaned over him, running her palms up and down his spine, warming up the muscles in his back before massaging them. As she did so, his shirt began to ride up, revealing the skin beneath. Daryl immediately sat up and pulled the shirt back down. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea." There was panic in his voice.

Beth's heart went out to him. "Daryl, it's okay. I've seen your back before. I helped Daddy patch you up that day Andrea shot you. I know. It's okay." She kept her voice soft. She knew this was a touchy thing for him, and could understand why. "Everyone's got scars, Daryl. Even me." She reminded him, holding up her left wrist.

"I don't care. I don't need your pity." Anger was starting to creep into his voice.

He stared at the pattern on the sheets before finally bringing his eyes up to look at hers. Beth stood there, eyes wide open. He could tell she was being sincere. Her words sank into his heart. He reached for her wrist, tracing over her scar with his thumb. He could feel her pulse quickening beneath his fingers. He gently pulled on her wrist, bringing her closer to him. He didn't want to push her away. He wanted her near him, always.

She crawled onto the bed, but still kept her distance. "Daryl, I do not pity you. Scars aren't something to be ashamed of. They show how strong you are; they show you survived. It doesn't matter to me how you got them. Whatever happened, it's in the past. That's all the scars are – part of your past. They don't define you."

She ran her fingers through his shaggy hair, which had fallen and covered his eyes. Beth was feeling bold. Maybe it was just her being tired, or because of the effect he was having on her pulse, on her heart. She leaned in and kissed him, softly. She reached both hands down to his waist, her fingers pulling at the sides of his shirt. Daryl instantly tensed up and gripped her wrists, his fingers biting into her flesh. She didn't flinch. She whispered against his lips, "Daryl. It's okay. I promise."

Daryl pulled back, away from her kiss. When she opened her eyes, his piercing eyes met hers. Beth fought the chill that began to run down her spine. "Daryl, I would never, ever hurt you. You can trust me."

Daryl closed his eyes again, breathing deeply. His grip on her wrists loosened, just slightly. He did trust her. She was so open with him about everything, so honest and pure. He knew she wouldn't do anything to hurt him. She was far too good for that. But even if she had seen his back before, for him to reveal his scars to her...hell, he'd never willingly shown his back to anyone. She said she didn't care. Daryl knew she did care; he could see it all over her face, but it wasn't about his scars. She cared about him, wanted to help him. Just like when she'd suggested burning down the moonshine shack, this was Beth trying to get him to see that the past didn't matter.

Daryl felt her weight on the bed shift. He looked around to see her getting off the bed. He figured he had blown it and hung his head. His damned insecurities had pushed her away after all. She didn't need to put up with his bullshit, and she finally figured that out. His heart began racing with anxiety until he felt her kneel on the bed behind him.

Beth crawled up behind him, threading her arms under his and around his chest. She pressed her cheek to his shoulder, and just held him, waiting for his reaction. She felt him shift against her, but never pull away. She pulled him tighter, pushing herself closer to him, her knees straddling his hips so she came fully flush with his back. When she was sure he wasn't going to run away, she loosened her hold on him. She moved her arms from around his chest to envelop his neck and brought her face closer to his.

Daryl felt her move against him. She brushed her lips across his cheek, his ear, down his neck and to his shoulder. Her hand came to rest on this shoulder, one finger delicately tracing one of the scars peeking out from under his shirt. He tensed automatically, but he didn't feel her pull away. Instead he felt her lips press against his scar, feathering kisses along the length of it, moving the strap of his shirt as she worked further down his back. When she reached the end of one scar, her mouth moved to the next one, and the next, kissing whatever she could reach with his shirt still covering his back. She kissed her way back up to his neck, then her lips brushed against his ear.

Beth wrapped her arms around his neck again, and whispered, "I love you, Daryl. Scars and all. You don't have to say it back, it's okay. I just want you to know. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. I understand." Beth started to pull away, to give him the space she thought he would want, but she felt his fingers brush against hers, then his hand moving to cover her own.

Beth turned her head to look at him as he turned his. Instantly, their lips met and her eyes fluttered shut. His arm snaked around her waist and brought her to his front and situated her on his lap. She let out a startled gasp as she felt herself being moved. He encircled her with his strong arms and held her tight, keeping his lips locked on hers. She brought her arms to wrap around his neck.

Daryl tightened his grip on her torso, holding her right up against him. Her shirt was twisted from his dragging her to his lap, and the fabric had ridden up, exposing her soft skin. He brought his hand to rest on her hip, loving the feel of her smooth skin beneath his hands. There was something incredibly personal about being able to feel someone without barriers, physical or otherwise. In that moment, he understood what she was trying to do. Her words and her actions were like taking a sledgehammer to the walls he had put up around his heart, and she had finally busted through.

He released his hold on her waist, dragging his hands up her sides, grazing long the sides of her breasts, along her arms, until his hands covered hers. He gently pried them off his neck, holding her delicate fingers in his, and brought her hands to rest between them. Making sure she was well balanced on his lap first, he reached down to the bottom of his shirt and pulled it off in one swift motion. He instinctively brought his hands to cradle her face and brought her in for another kiss, this one more insistent, more demanding, than the last. Her arms returned to his neck, holding on tighter than before, crushing herself to him.

They kissed until they were breathless. Beth was the one to break the kiss, as difficult as it was for her to do so. "If you want that back rub, we should get going on it. It's getting late." She stayed in his lap, letting him call the next shot.

Daryl let out a low growl before dragging her close for one more kiss, then moving his hands to her hips and lifting her off his lap and back onto the bed. "Alright, but only because my back is killing me, and I didn't just strip for your for nothin'," he said through a smirk. She blushed at the words he chose, but couldn't help but smile. She moved out of his way so he could lay down on the pillows again.

Beth crawled up next to him, running her hands over his bare back. She bent and ran kisses all over his back, over skin and scar alike. Her wavy blonde hair was creating an entirely new sensation across his skin. Once she had finished, her hands started working the muscles in his lower back, stretching and straightening as she went. She couldn't get quite the right angle she needed to really work through the tension in his back. Without warning, she straddled Daryl, her knees by his hips, practically sitting on his ass.

Daryl pushed himself off the pillows and turned backward to look at her, saying everything with one raised eyebrow. "I can't reach from that angle." Beth replied, innocently enough. He shook his head and quietly snorted, turning back and getting comfortable on the pillows again.

From this position, Beth could put all her weight into working the knots out of his back. She ran her hands all over, coaxing and soothing the muscles beneath, mindful of the scars, but not daring to draw any more attention to them. She didn't miss Daryl's soft groans and knew she'd been hitting some tender spots.

She would have liked to keep working his back, but her eyelids began to droop. She liked making him feel good. She shook herself more awake, but knew she needed to wrap things up and get some sleep. She looked down at Daryl and saw his eyes were closed. She inched her way off him, not wanting to disturb him if he was actually sleeping. She should have known, with his hunter's instincts, he'd wake up the moment she moved, if he'd ever really been asleep at all. Beth looked at him apologetically and said, "I need to get some sleep."

Daryl made to get off the bed, to return to the manager's apartment. He felt her hand on his bicep and, startled, looked up to meet her gaze.

"Stay with me tonight?"

He swallowed hard. "You sure?" he asked throatily.

"Yes, Daryl, I'm sure, but only if you want to stay. I just...feel safer when you're with me."

He thought for a long minute. He had never dreamed Beth would ask him to share a bed with her. He wasn't sure this was the best course of action, but damned if he didn't want to stay anyway and to hell with the consequences.

"Alright. Lemme go grab the key and lock up. I'll be right back."

Beth tried to stay calm as she got off the bed, pulled the covers back, and settled back in, pulling the sheet and comforter up under her arm. She was a little nervous about sharing a bed with a man. They'd slept together on the ground but this was so much more intimate. "It's just for safety," she tried telling herself, but who was she kidding. Daryl made her feel things she'd never felt before. Her mind began to wander as her eyes started to drift shut.

Just by that, Daryl walked back in and over to the bed. He sat on the edge and flopped back, his head landing heavily on the pillows, facing the ceiling. He sprawled out across his side of the bed, but held his right arm somewhat awkwardly at his side, not wanting to invade Beth's space.

Beth shifted slightly, laying on her left side, facing Daryl, and ran her fingers lightly up and down his arm. He looked over to her, his eyes meeting her sleepy ones in the early evening light. The sun had gone down close to an hour ago, and the moon hadn't made its full ascent into the sky yet. He could still see her eyes sparkling in the dim light. He brought his right arm up and over, and Beth cuddled up next to him, resting her head on his upper arm. He turned onto his right side, bringing his left arm to drape over her tiny waist, pulling her closer.

Beth felt a slight chill run down her back at his touch. His fingers made a swirling pattern at the base of her spine. She fought back a yawn, but lost. Daryl chuckled, then bent his head to kiss her. She returned his kiss with as much force as she had, which wasn't much in her sleepy state. He pulled away, but placed a soft kiss on the tip of her nose and on her forehead before saying, "Goodnight, Beth."

She snuggled up to him until her head was resting beneath his chin. "Goodnight, Daryl."

Within a minute, he felt her breath come out slower, indicating she was sound asleep already. He pressed another kiss to her forehead and whispered, "I love you," and drifted off to sleep.

**Oh my gosh, this was probably the hardest chapter I've written so far. I knew what I wanted to happen, but not how to get them there. Let me know – did I get it right? **


	14. Chapter 14

**Claimed - Chapter 14**

"I can't find nothin'. It's like they just vanished into thin air. What the fuck?" Tim complained as he returned from his latest scouting mission. The whole group of men had been scouring around their campsite for any trace of Beth or Daryl and had turned up basically empty. The best they had found was what had to be Daryl's prints leading toward a stream, some very faint walker tracks, and a twice-dead girl. At first Chester thought it was Beth, but the body was way too decomposed to be her. They had tracked both trails as far as they could, but no one in the group was all that experienced as a tracker, and the wind that had picked up and rain that had worked its way through the trees certainly didn't help in preserving any tracks.

It appeared that Beth and Daryl had, indeed, vanished.

Joe couldn't believe it. He had stood up for that mother fucker and for what? For him to desert the group? While he was supposed to be on watch, nonetheless? That piece of shit, claiming that hot piece of ass and not doing anything with her, taunting the rest of them, then stranding them in the middle of god knows where to be eaten by god knows what. It was fucking intolerable.

Joe was beyond pissed.

He realized just how lucky they were that the rain had hidden their scent from any other walkers in the area. That would have been a hell of a way to wake up...or not wake up. It only pissed him off more.

"Boys, let's be smart about this. They couldn't have just disappeared. Plus that bitch has a bum ankle. They can't have gotten too far in just one day. We'll look over by that walker Chester found, focus over there. Only someone living would have taken out a walker like that. That has to be the direction they went."

"Yeah, but we found Daryl's tracks heading the opposite way," countered Tony. "Shouldn't we go that way? Ain't no way she went somewhere without him. He'd been carrying her all damn day today."

"You wanna go that way, be my guest. The only direction we know someone went for sure is that way," Joe pointed in the direction of the dead girl. "In case you forgot, Daryl's prints disappear once they reach the stream. You think you can pick up tracks in running fucking water?" Tony stayed quiet. "That's what I thought. Now quit yer bitchin' and let's go."

"Man, we been lookin' for 'em all day already. I ain't gonna go on no wild goose chase in the dark." Chester whined. The group mumbled their assent. Joe felt his shoulders tighten with frustration.

"Alright you bunch 'a pussies. You get yer beauty sleep so we can get going early tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, but Joe…" Tim piped up again, and Joe's menacing glare stopped him momentarily. "I just…where do we go next? That way leads to the train tracks. We goin' after Daryl or after the asshole that killed Lou?"

Joe felt all eyes turn to him. He hated this part of being a leader. He didn't mind telling these idiots what to do when he had an actual plan, but now…shit he didn't know. "If those two are smart, they'd head for Terminus. Two people ain't gonna survive out here by themselves."

"Those two could. He's one tough son of a bitch," Chester mumbled. "And he didn't seem all too keen on going there anyway."

"Yeah, but if we go to Terminus, we either get Daryl or the other guy."

Joe could feel his patience wearing really fucking thin. "Fuckin' fine. We'll vote. All in favor of heading to Terminus?"

XXXXX

Daryl's eyes snapped open at the sound of thunder crashing right above them. A hard, slanting rain was beating against the windows outside. He looked around, trying to determine just where he was. It took a minute before he remembered finding the apartment building, clearing out the different rooms...

...the backrub...

...Beth breaking down the last walls standing around his heart...

...crawling into bed with Beth...

His eyes focused on the sleeping beauty lying next to him. She was still curled up against him, her head resting soundly on his arm. He realized his arm was completely asleep from his elbow down to his fingers, but he didn't mind in the least. It was worth it to see her lying there, her golden hair spread out on the pillow behind her. She was like an angel. An angel that had told him she loved him.

His heart tightened at the memory of hearing those words from her sweet lips last night. What the hell had he done to deserve her loving him? He sure as hell couldn't think of anything. But she had said it, and didn't expect him to say anything back.

Damn, but he wanted to. He just couldn't get the words out. It wasn't pride, it wasn't fear. It was his own inadequacy that stopped him. He didn't deserve her, not by a long shot. She apparently thought otherwise. He couldn't help but smile to himself. She deserved to know how he really felt about her. He just had to man up and tell her.

A piece of her hair had fallen in front of her face. Daryl reached up and gently tucked it behind her ear. He traced his thumb gently along the side of her face. He froze as she started to move, just slightly. As Beth relaxed against the pillow again, and his breath came back to him, he ever so gently draped his arm around her, resting just above her hip. He fought every urge to pull her close to him, but he didn't want her to wake just yet, and knew any movement would probably wake her. He was content to just lay there and look at his angel in the bleak morning light.

He lay there, looking at her, memorizing every tiny feature of her, for who knows how long. Suddenly, another clap of thunder rumbled above them. He watched, intoxicated by her, as she moved next to him, stretching her limbs almost cat-like. She groaned and blinked her eyes open, looking right up at him before smiling, melting his heart all over again. She brought her arm up to his waist, mirroring the way he was holding her. "Mmmm…good morning…" she mumbled, her voice still thick with sleep.

"'Morning," he replied, grinning back at her.

"How long have you been up?" she asked with concern.

Daryl shrugged. "Not long. Thunder woke me up."

Beth nodded against the pillow, not taking her eyes off of him. "Hmm…" She tilted her head, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain on the windows. "I love sleeping in when it rains. There used to be a song about it."

"Yeah? You wanna sing it for me? Don't see no jukebox in here, either."

She smiled at the memory of her singing to him in the funeral home. Her smiled melted into a slight frown. "Oh, but I just woke up. My voice will sound all froggy," Beth complained.

"Hey, if you can't pull it off…" He teased her, knowing he would get her goat.

"Okay, but I warned you…" she cleared her throat and sang softly.

"Pray that it's raining on Sunday…stormin' like crazy…we'll hide under the covers all afternoon…"

She stopped, looking embarrassed, a blush creeping over her cheeks. "What? Keep going," Daryl egged her on.

"I…okay…" she swallowed, suddenly looking very nervous. "Pray that whatever comes Monday will take care of itself…cause we got better things that we can do…when it's rainin' on Sunday."

She lowered her chin to her chest, trying to hide her eyes from his gaze.

Daryl brought his hand to her chin, gently lifting it so she was looking at him. He bent his head and pressed a kiss to her lips. He returned his arm to wrap around her, pulling her close to him, until she was pressed up against him. His hand found its way beneath her shirt, pressing his palm against the smooth skin of her back, rubbing his large hand up and down, loving the feel of her beneath his fingers.

He felt her arms encircle his neck, pressing herself further into him. He groaned at the feeling of her so close to him. She shifted herself against his body, rubbing herself up and down the length of him. He began leaving a string of hot kisses along the column of her throat, her breathy moan in his ear spurring him on further. He let his tongue and teeth taste and tease her skin, feeling her squirm next to him. The taste and smell of the skin of her neck, all feminine and sweet, combined with her movements next to him had him getting hard; he found himself not really caring whether or not she knew it. He wasn't letting go of her any time soon.

He wanted to feel more of her, dragging his fingers along her back to her waist, ghosting along her tight stomach. Her breath hitched in her throat; she tried not to giggle at the ticklish sensation. He pulled back slightly, looking into her emerald eyes as his hand crept slowly up her torso, along her rib cage, his raised eyebrows asking silent permission.

Beth kissed him and brought her hand to cover his, dragging his hand to cover her breast, before pulling her arm through her sleeve. She broke the kiss briefly so she could pull her head through the neck hole, effectively removing her shirt, exposing her body to him. She lifted herself up onto her right elbow, giving her enough room to fully discard the shirt and toss it over her shoulder, giggling as she did so.

Daryl slid his hand to land on her hip and looked at her smiling eyes before raking his eyes over her chest, landing on the most perfect pair of breasts he'd ever seen, her pink nipples standing hard and firm, almost begging to be sucked. He looked up at her. "God, you're beautiful." He crushed another kiss to her lips, pressing her back down onto the bed, then teased down her neck, over her collarbone, licking along the pulse point he found there. He replaced his hand on her breast, her hard nipple pressing against his palm. He kissed his way down her chest, until his lips reached his hand, now cupping her breast, bringing her nipple to his lips. He heard her sudden gasp and felt her grip on his shoulder tighten.

He forced himself to pull away and look up at her again. "You okay?"

Beth had scrunched her eyes shut and bit her lower lip, but nodded nervously. "Yeah. I've just…no one…no one…" She looked at him, "you're the…"

"Beth, have you done any of this before?"

Her chin dropped to her chest again and she shook her head no.

Daryl had figured she was a virgin. She was too damned sweet and innocent about everything else; it just made sense. But to not have had anyone touch her before? What the hell was she doing with those two boys before? They had to have been god damned idiots to not know what they had with Beth. And now here he was, feeling like the luckiest man in the world to be able to be this close to her, whether he deserved her or not.

"Are you sure this is okay? We can stop."

"No!" she answered emphatically. "No, I want to keep going. I trust you. Please, Daryl."

That was all it took. He kissed her hard, then brought his mouth back to her tight nipple, sucking on her gently, then circling it with the tip of his tongue. Her soft moans sent chills through his spine and he smiled against her. His hand moved to her hip, pressing her so her back was flat against the bed, and his mouth shifted to her other breast. He was partially lying on top of her, his left elbow braced next to her, keeping most of his weight off her. His right hand ran up and down her body, cupping her breast again, rolling her nipple between his fingers, gently teasing and twisting it, eliciting another gasp as he wreaked havoc on her senses. Her hands ran up his arms to land on his shoulders, gripping him and pulling him closer to her. Beth's fingers curled into his hair and pulled him up to kiss him again. He let his body cover hers.

As her mouth found his, sliding her tongue in to taste him, she arched her back against him. She had never felt anything like this before. She felt sexy…womanly…cherished…loved. She pressed her breasts against his chest and moaned at the friction caused by his chest hair grazing along her sensitive nipples. She broke the kiss, breathless, and his lips automatically sought her neck. She felt him suck at the spot he had claimed yesterday, marking her, and she felt tingles run up and down her body, all the way to her toes. Instinctively, but still tentatively, she brought up her knee, giving Daryl better access to the cradle of her hips. She felt his weight press against her, loving the feel of him so close to her. She could feel his hard on press against her and couldn't help but smile.

Daryl kissed her sweet mouth again then shot her his wolf-like grin as he began to kiss his way down her chest, paying homage to her breasts once again. His hand ran up her thigh to her knee then to her calf, gently moving her leg so it was flat along the bed again. He teased the skin of her stomach with his lips, teeth and tongue before reaching the waistband of her pants. He kneeled up on the bed, straddling her legs. He ran his hands along her torso, then curled his fingers under the elastic, and stopped, looking up at her. Beth took a deep breath, then nodded. She raised her hips off the bed, making it easier to remove her pajama pants. He left her panties on…for now.

Daryl crawled up to be even with her again. His right hand roamed all over her body as he kissed her passionately. He covered her skin in long, languid strokes, stoking the fire that was building between her legs. She jumped slightly as his fingers reached the elastic of her panties, then down to trace her hip, down to her knee, and teased the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh. He grazed over the fabric of her panties and repeated the motions on her other leg, before ghosting over her most sensitive part. Her legs pressed together, trying to trap his hand there.

Daryl chuckled at her attempt, then brought his hand to her stomach. His fingers slid underneath the elastic of her panties, then froze. He looked up at her; her eyes were shut tight, her brows knitted together. He waited until she opened her eyes and looked at him. "You still okay?"

"Yeah…just…nervous."

He kissed her softly. "It's okay, baby. I'll go slow. If you want to stop, just say. I promise."

"Okay," she whispered, a shaking hand reaching up to his neck, pulling him down for another kiss.

Daryl shifted his weight off her, laying pressed up next to her. His hand slid further down, his long fingers cupping her womanhood. He slid one finger between her lips, parting them slightly, and felt her tense up right away. He waited until her breath caught up to her and felt her relax again before stroking between her folds, amazed at how hot and wet she was already. His finger rubbed lightly against her sensitive nub, causing her to gasp loudly and grip at his shoulder again.

He kissed her deeply, then slid one finger into the place that wept for him. She bucked against the unfamiliar pressure; his mouth swallowed her moan. He moved his hand, sliding in and out of her. He couldn't believe how tight she felt, and this was only his finger. He frowned slightly, knowing that if this was to go further, he was going to hurt her, and that thought alone almost caused him to put the brakes on everything.

Almost.

He pulled his finger out of her, only to add a second one. She could feel his fingers stretching her, causing her to moan again. Intuitively, she rocked her hips against his hand, needing more of him. She moved slowly, unsure of what she was supposed to do. She felt him press his thumb to her clit, and whimpered loudly, then groan in near frustration.

"That's it baby. Use my hand. Do what feels good," he said against her neck as he nuzzled her there.

"I…I can't…I don't know how."

"Yes you do. Your body knows. Just do what feels right." He curled his fingers inside her, pressing against that special spot, knowing it would help her along to finding release. He wanted to make sure her first time was more than just some pain and spots of blood. He wanted her to know pleasure. He rubbed his thumb against her clit as she started moving her hips.

She was grinding against his hand, her own hands gripping at his shoulder and at the pillow beneath her. She let out moan after moan, not knowing what she needed, only that she needed more. Daryl began suckling her breast again and she whimpered, pressing her head back as her back arched away from the bed, pressing her breast closer to his seeking mouth. Her hips rocked furiously against him. Then…

Her orgasm ripped through her, white hot pleasure surging from the top of her head, through her heart, her belly, down to the tips of her toes. She let out a long, loud groan; her fingers gripped his skin, surely leaving nail marks in his shoulder. She screamed his name, clawing at his shoulder. It seemed like every muscle was tightening and relaxing at the same time.

Daryl felt her inner muscles clench around his fingers. He continued moving inside her until he felt them start to relax. Slowly, he removed his hand from her panties. He looked up at her, seeing the look of release all over her face. Her eyes were hooded with desire, and a Cheshire cat grin spread across her face.

"Oh my god. Daryl…I…I never…knew…oh my god…" she sighed breathily.

"You alright?" he asked, giving her a knowing smile.

"I am so much better than alright." She brought her left hand up to his shoulder, almost lazily, as if all the muscles in her arm had melted.

He moved down to between her legs, and curled his fingers into the waistband of her panties. His eyes roamed over her body before meeting her eyes, still hooded in her afterglow. She looked up at him, and a new look of nervousness crossed her face. "Same deal, baby. If you want me to stop, I will."

It almost killed him waiting for her answer. He was bracing for her rejection, frozen in anticipation.

"No, Daryl. I want this. I love you. Please…I want you to be my first…please."

"My god," he thought in disbelief, "is she begging for me?" He didn't think he could have gotten any harder. Once again, Beth had proved him wrong.

His fingers gently slid the fabric down over her hips, which she had raised to help get the garment off her, and down her long, skinny legs. He backed up off the bed, hooking his thumbs into his own pants, removing them and his boxers at once. Before discarding them fully on the floor, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a condom. Beth had propped herself up on her elbows to watch him and gave him a quizzical look.

"I found some yesterday. Didn't know if we'd be needing them or not. I promise, Beth, I wasn't expecting this. It was just in case. I swear." He knew how this looked, and it made him feel like a pervert.

Beth grinned at him, "Well, I'm glad you did. I didn't even think about it."

The fear in his heart released its grip at her reaction. He ripped the packet open and slid the condom over himself. He slowly crawled back on the bed, again, pressing himself to her side. She gave him another confused look.

"Before we do this, I just want to make sure you're ready."

"Yes, Daryl. I love you." She pulled his face down for a kiss.

When she released her hold on him, he looked down at her, right into her eyes, and could swear he could see all the way into her soul. He kissed her again, tucked her hair behind her ear, and whispered against her lips, "Beth, I want you to know…I…I love you," and pulled away, looking at her as if he'd just done something wrong.

Her eyes shot open in surprise, a bright smile stretching across her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down, kissing him hard.

When she loosened her hold on him, he whispered, "I'll go as gentle as I can, baby. I promise. I don't want to hurt you, but…"

Her hand cupped his cheek. "I know, Daryl. I know. "

He moved down the bed, kneeling between her legs, placing a hand on each of her knees and gently urging them apart. She watched him with wide eyes; he could tell she was nervous. He grabbed his cock and pressed against her warm, wet opening, then lay on top of her, bracing his arms on either side of her, keeping his weight off of her. He felt her tense up beneath him and whispered, "Relax, sweetheart. Just relax. You ready?" She let go of a low breath and nodded.

He slid into her quickly, like pulling off a band-aid, getting through the worst part all at once. Her fingers gripped his shoulders in desperation, her face scrunched in pain, a raw moan escaping her lips. He rained down tender kisses all over her face and neck, whispering, "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry. I promise, it'll feel better soon." He stayed perfectly still, letting her tender flesh get accustomed to his size inside of her.

Eventually Beth relaxed her grip on his shoulders, the pained look starting to disappear from her face. Excruciatingly slowly, Daryl started to withdraw from her until he had almost pulled out from her completely, then, just as slowly, slid back into her. The sweet friction was sheer ecstasy as he entered her fully. He grit his teeth and began to pull out again, just as slowly. He promised he'd be gentle with her, and he would keep that promise if it killed him. He slid back into her, fighting to keep control. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to keep up this kind of pace. He needed her, all of her, now.

As if she could read his mind, she began to rock her hips against his. They met each other perfectly, and he groaned with pure desire for her. He leaned further into her, pressing their bodies together, wrapping one arm around her lower back, and the other around her shoulders, He needed to feel all of her against him.

"I love you so much, Beth. God you feel amazing. Absolutely perfect" He began to increase the tempo of his thrusts into her, and her head tilted back as she let out a string of breathy moans into his ear. "That's it baby…yes…please, baby…please," not knowing quite what he was asking for, only that he needed more of her.

Beth brought her knees up higher and asked, "Like this?"

The simple motion allowed for Daryl to reach deeper into her, but it still wasn't enough. He grabbed her knee and dragged it up and hitched it above his hip, guiding her calf to wrap around his waist. "God, yes, baby…oh, fuck yes…" He began to thrust harder and faster into her.

"Oh…Daryl…" she moaned into his ear, then tightened her grip around his neck. "You feel so good inside me."

Her words sent him over the edge. He finally found his release, his hips rocking hard against hers. He buried his face in the pillow next to her head, muffling his groans of pleasure. When he had finished, he rested his forehead against her shoulder.

After a moment, he propped himself up on his elbows and slowly withdrew from her. She let out a soft moan at the sudden empty feeling inside her. He leaned down and kissed Beth soundly on the lips. He reached down and removed the used condom, tying it off and depositing it into the trashcan next to the bed. He took her into his arms again, looked intently at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

Beth smiled, then nodded and ran a hand through his hair, now damp with sweat. "I'm okay. I had no idea it could be like that."

He dropped another quick kiss on her lips and said, "I didn't either."

"I love you, Daryl"

He looked down at her sweet face. He was still in awe that this beautiful, amazing woman deemed him worthy to be with her - to be her first. He still didn't think he deserved her, but swore to himself he'd spend the rest of his life trying to prove he did.

"I love you, Beth." He chuckled, "Guess that makes you my first, too."

Her heart caught in her chest. She hugged him to her, running her fingers up and down his back as she kissed him with everything she had in her.

He moved himself off her, and positioned her so her head was lying on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. He heard her yawn before she stretched her arm across his chest, curling into him completely, her leg curled up across his body. He'd never been one to cuddle before, but he couldn't think of anything he'd rather do than stay in bed with this woman as long as he could.

Daryl listened to the rain continue to pelt down on the windows as they drifted off to sleep again.

**And they got there - YAY! I was pretty darn nervous about this chapter, too. Seriously, I read through this three times to make sure it was perfect…**

**As always, I do not own any part of The Walking Dead. Also, the song Beth sang is "Raining on Sunday" by Keith Urban, which I also own no part of. **

**Oh…you didn't think I'd forgotten about Joe and the boys, did you? We're just gonna have to see what happens…**


	15. Chapter 15

**Claimed – Chapter 15**

**I've just gotta say, I heart you guys! Your support for this story, especially the last chapter, is absolutely wonderful, and I can't thank you enough. I try to respond to each review - I know I feel special when a writer personally thanks me, and I want you guys to feel special, too! Thanks to the handful of guests who have left reviews, too (I hope you know who you are, because I sure don't)! **

**I've been going over and over in my head how I should have done parts of the last chapter completely different, but with everyone saying how sweet it was…I guess I'll save those ideas for another story…whenever that may come around. **

**I got a lot of comments about people looking for Joe and what the group was doing. For a while I thought, "Really? With all the feels and everything going on between Beth and Daryl, and you're worried about the bad guys?" Then I remember that the villain makes the story, so…okay. Just had me worried…am I doing something wrong? **

**Ah, well. Enough with the second guessing. On with the story. **

Daryl awoke later that morning to a warm, brushing sensation across his chest. He opened his eyes to find Beth resting her head on his shoulder, her hand stroking her fingers through the hair on his chest. Her smell, sweet and feminine, invaded his senses. He smiled as he pulled his arm tighter around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Hey," he said softly.

Beth smiled and looked up at him. "Hey," she replied, her voice low and husky.

She was absolutely glowing with happiness, which made Daryl positively elated. In the time they'd spent together, all he'd wanted to do was to take care of her, make sure she was safe. He felt he owed it to her, to Hershel, to the rest of the group, to protect her. Now, there was more to it. She was all his and he was hers. She had given herself to him so freely. In exchange he handed over his heart, knowing it would be forever safe with her. He knew Beth would never hurt him; she was far too good a person to cause any harm to anyone. Now he just had to work on believing it when she said he deserved her.

He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "How ya feelin'?" concern etched onto his face as he pulled away.

She smiled up at him again. "I'm fine, Daryl. Promise." She reached up to kiss him again, trying to kiss his worry away. Yes, it had hurt, but it was a glorious pain that gave way to more pleasure than she could have imagined. The mere thought of how he made her feel had her wanting him again. She could feel a fluttering low in her belly, accompanied by a warm sensation between her legs. She licked at his lips, deepening the kiss, hoping to get her message across.

Daryl couldn't ignore the insistency of her kiss. She had scooted herself up on the bed, then moved her leg across his lower abdomen, effectively straddling him, her breasts pressed up against him. He ran his hands across her lower back, tracing his fingers on one hand up to her shoulder, pulling her close to him. His other hand held fast to her hip, anchoring her there. He pulled away from her mouth, feathering kisses along her jawline, murmuring in her ear, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get me all kinds o' riled up."

Beth grinned as his words, low and wicked, sent chills down her spine. She pulled back slightly and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Are you complaining?"

He smirked up at her. Hell no, he wouldn't complain. "No, ma'am." He pulled her earlobe between his lips, then lightly bit down with his teeth. He felt her react, felt her gasp against him as her body broke out in goose bumps. He ran the tip of his tongue along her jawline before sliding into her sweet mouth again.

She wiggled against him, her wet slit teasing against the head of his erection. His fingertips ground into her hips. He pulled her away from him. "Whoa, there, sweetheart."

Beth couldn't hide the look of disappointment on her face. Had she done something wrong? Didn't he want her anymore? She hated the feeling of rejection creeping over and through her. She asked nervously, "What's wrong? What did I do?"

He saw the worry on her features and almost regretted stopping her. It was necessary that he did, though. "Ya didn't do nothin' wrong. I just need to make a quick pit stop and grab something before we go any further." He gently lifted her off him, kissing her as he moved her back to the bed.

Relief washed over her. She was almost embarrassed; she should have known he was only thinking of her safety – that's what he did. She watched as he rolled out of bed, watching his naked form cross the room out the door, and definitely enjoyed the view. He looked so sexy as he strode confidently around the room in all his naked glory. Beth let out a little giggle at the sight of his bare butt, and stopped when he turned and glared at her over his shoulder, smirking at her before shaking his head. She didn't care, and kept the smile plastered on her face. He rolled his eyes and made his way down the hallway.

As he left the room, she pulled her knees up to her chest and covered herself with the sheet and comforter. The rain outside left a chill in the air, and without Daryl there next to her, she felt the cold against her skin. As she pulled up her knees, she noticed a dull ache low in her abdomen. It was mildly uncomfortable, but deliciously so. She smiled to herself, not minding the pain in the least. Daryl had told her once about Joe's group claiming what they wanted. It was weird, but she loved the feeling of being claimed by Daryl, in every sense of the word. Her smile spread wider, her thoughts turning back to their love making earlier, when he re-entered the room. He crossed to the bed, paused to sheathe himself, and took his place next to her beneath the covers. "Miss me?" he said with a smile.

"More than you know," she said, draping her arm across his chest, loving the feel of his skin against hers. He wrapped his arms around her then laid back on the pillow, pulling her on top of him again, picking up right where they'd left off. She swung her leg over his hips, kissing him along his jaw, down his neck and his chest. Her tongue swirled around his nipple, earning her a gasp as Daryl's breath caught in his throat.

He ran his fingers through her hair, pulling her face to him, murmuring, "Yer playin' dirty, girl," with a wicked smile as he ran his lips along the same course she had taken, kissing, licking, tasting his way to her stiff, pink nipples. She sighed loudly and bucked her hips against him. Daryl ran his fingertips across her shoulders and down her back, resting on her hips. "You sure you're ready? Not too sore?"

"I'm a little sore, but not sore enough to stop," she said, flashing that Cheshire cat grin at him.

Daryl moved one hand lower to stroke between her thighs. He didn't want to go further if she wasn't fully ready. The pads of his finger slid firmly along her clit. The sudden pressure caused Beth to arch her back and throw her head back, crying out at the sensation. He reached further, curling his finger up into her. "Mmm...you're so wet for me already."

"I'm not sure what to do," she said softly, her eyes lowering, focusing on her hands on his chest.

"Just like last night, sweetheart. Do what feels good. Here," he said as he pulled his finger from her and wrapped his hand around the base of his cock, holding it still and upright for her. His other hand guided her hip, helping to line her up to lower herself onto him. "It's all up to you. Go as fast or as slow as you want."

"But I can't..."

"Yes you can. I don't wanna hurt you more than I already have. You're the one who's sore; you know how far you can go. You can do this. I promise." His erection started twitching in anticipation before their bodies had even met.

Beth began to lower herself and felt the tip brush against her clit. It felt good, but that's not what she wanted...not what she needed. She readjusted until she felt him press at her opening, dripping with want for him. She began to slide down, letting him fill her slowly, wincing slightly at the pressure. She had to stop and catch her breath, not realizing she'd been holding it. Daryl pulled his hand away. She forced herself to relax and continued, her head thrown back and her jaw dropping as her hips met his. She tentatively moved up and down, feeling the pressure start to lessen with each movement as her body got used to being filled with him again. She chanced a glance at the man below her, his eyes closed in...was it pain? She stopped moving. "What's wrong?"

Daryl's eyes opened slowly, pinning her with a look full of desire. His hands ran from her knees, up and down her thighs, and finally resting on her hips. "Ain't nothin' wrong. Yer doin' fine. But God damn, Beth. You're so tight it's incredible. And you lookin' all sexy on top o' me...not sure how long I'm gonna last, baby."

She leaned forward to kiss him, resting her hands on his shoulders. This new angle made it easier for her to move. As she did, she realized it created a wonderful friction, rubbing her clit against his pubic bone. She continued grinding against him, letting out sighs and moans as she felt a delicious pressure start to build low in her belly.

Daryl ran his hands from her hips, up and down her back, then back down past her hips, cupping her ass as she moved against him. It took all his strength to keep his hips still, wanting to let her ride this out, so to speak. All he wanted to do was thrust into her, hard and fast, burying himself in her, but he knew that's not what she needed right now. Instead, he slid his hands up her sides and cupped her breasts, kneading her soft flesh, teasing her tender nipples in turn. She let out a low groan as he brought his mouth to her to further tantalize her delicate peaks. He felt her start to bounce harder on him, could hear her breathing quicken as he continued licking at her, alternating from one breast to the other. He reached up, threading his fingers through her hair, looking up at her, appreciating the look of bliss on her angelic face, before bringing her down for a scorching kiss. He heard her groan in frustration, and he looked up at her.

"Daryl...I can't...I can't...please..." she moaned in between her panting breaths.

"Here, baby...here." He snaked his hand between them until his fingers came to the place where they were joined, curving up to stroke her clit for her.

"Oh my god! Oh...Daryl..." she whimpered. He knew she was getting close...hell he was almost there himself. "Oh...God...yes..." she squealed out in pleasure before releasing a long moan as she climaxed.

Daryl felt her body tighten around him, milking his own release from him. He kept his hand busy between her thighs, letting her ride out her orgasm as he found his, calling out her name as he came. He had never felt anything like this. Not even close.

Beth, completely spent, collapsed against his chest, and his arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly to him. After a moment he brought his hands to her face, gently brushing away the hair that had fallen in front of her beautiful eyes and perfect smile. He softly kissed her already swollen lips, and left a trail of kisses along her jaw and down her neck before fitting her head in the space where his neck met his shoulder. Slowly, their breathing returned to normal.

"Damn, girl," he said, as he rubbed his hands up and down her back.

"What?" Beth sounded apprehensive, but amused at the same time. "Did I do okay?"

"Okay?" he looked at her, flabbergasted. "Let's just say you're a real quick study. That was...incredible. We keep that up and you may well be the death of me."

"Well, we wouldn't want that. Guess we'll just have to stop," she teased, grinning at him before starting to move off him.

"Like hell!" He tightened his grip on her, holding her still against him. "You may be a quick learner, but I've got a thing or two to teach ya still."

"Oh, is that so?" she asked tauntingly, her eyebrows high on her forehead. "And just when will my next lesson be?"

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head about that. 'Sides, we're burnin' daylight and still got half a hallway to go through and clear out."

Beth groaned at the thought of leaving the bed, of leaving Daryl's arms. She could stay here forever. "Do we have to?"

Daryl smiled up at her. He wanted to cave, to let her have her way, to keep her in bed with him, but they had to keep going. "Yeah, we gotta. Come on, darlin'. Up and at 'em" he said, adding a playful smack to her ass. She looked down on him, almost in shock, then a grin crept across her face as she leaned down for another kiss.

"Alright, but only because I love you," she murmured against his lips.

He smiled back at her, and said, "I love you, too, angel. Come on, let's go."

XXXXX

After searching all day yesterday, getting a late start on dinner, and not getting much sleep the night before, Joe and the boys were moving slowly this morning. Each man found some food for a small breakfast, packed up what few belongings they had, and headed back toward the train tracks. They had agreed the night before to continue their trek toward Terminus, figuring Daryl might've taken Beth there for the supposed security, and if not, they were fairly certain Lou's murderer would be there, either way.

They realized when they got closer to the tracks just how much cover the trees really provided. There was a steady rain falling out in the open area, but in the woods they barely felt anything. Trudging through the trees, the group followed the tracks, continuing where they had left off two days before.

XXXXX

It seemed to take forever, but it was only a matter of hours before the Claimers finally found a place to stay for the night. A tiny town came up ahead of them on the left. A single road crossed the tracks, leading into what probably used to be the busy main street of the town. Most of the buildings were brick; several had been boarded up already.

They didn't have a lot of time to look around. The light was fading quickly, and they were exhausted from traveling so far without a break, trudging through the mud all day. The rain had let up, but only slightly.

As luck would have it, on the corner was what looked like a two-story warehouse. The door was standing open. They made quick work of sweeping through both levels, taking out the few walkers that had wandered in. Chester suggested they all spend the night upstairs, leaving them less vulnerable if any more made their way into the building. The group grumbled their assent. Tim and Tony worked to close the main door, but it had been torn off one of its hinges, so it was basically a moot point. They joined the rest of the group upstairs.

There wasn't much up there as far as...well, anything. The entire place was void of anything they could use for warmth, food, supplies. Hell, there wasn't even a place to sit besides the floor. It had plenty of windows, which made it a good look out spot, but provided very little else. One of the windows had been knocked out; shattered glass littered the sidewalk below. This allowed for some rain to come in, but not much; it certainly didn't keep any of the wind out. Still, they weren't sitting in the dirt or mud, and were decently secure.

They decided to go exploring through town to look for food or supplies in the morning once the rain had let up.

Joe took first watch. It wasn't dark out yet, but they weren't going anywhere soon – might as well let the guys start catching up on sleep. He scanned up and down the street, noticing another handful of walkers. Well, they had been walkers; now they were just rotting bodies lying around a group of cars that had been circled up. He couldn't give two shits about the owners of the cars, but he couldn't help wonder who had left those bodies just pile up like that. There had to be someone else in this town. His trigger finger itched as he wondered who it was.


	16. Chapter 16

**Claimed - Chapter 16**

**You guys crack me up. After 14, I got a lot of, "Yeah, where has Joe been?" Now after 15, I get, "No! Don't let Joe get them!" Oh, I just love you all. My heart absolutely leaps for joy when my followers, favorites, and reviews numbers go up. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all your support!**

**As always, I own no part of Walking Dead.**

Daryl and Beth crawled out of bed, helping each other get dressed, sneaking kisses here and there along the way. They grabbed a quick lunch, having slept and loved through any reasonable breakfast time, and set back to work going through the rest of the apartments, Beth returning to the manager's apartment to sort through anything Daryl would bring back to her.

They had amassed quite a stockpile of food; there was a wide selection of canned fruits, veggies and meats, more peanut butter than Daryl was really ready to even think about eating, some stale cereal, lots of water bottles and even some very flat, very warm soda. While there wasn't much variety, there was at least enough to get them through a week or so without having to hunt.

Beth was folding the clothes Daryl had brought her, some warmer, some lighter. For such a rough and tough redneck, she had to admit he had decent taste in clothes. Everything he had given her was just her size. Either everyone who had lived here was exactly the same size as Beth, or Daryl was going through and finding things just for her. She smiled to herself as the realization hit her that the latter was probably more truthful than not.

After a couple hours, Daryl returned to the apartment, dropping off another armful and announced, "Well, that's about all. Not a ton else we can use, at least not that we can carry with us. I did find a couple things, just fer fun, though." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a deck of cards and a crossword puzzle book. Her smile stretched from ear to ear. "Figure we could use 'em to help pass the time or whatever."

"You think we'd ever run out of things to do?" she looked up at him and smiled suggestively, raising one eyebrow.

"Damn, girl. I've created a monster. I ain't as young as I used to be. Man needs to recharge once in a while." He couldn't help but smile back at her, and his heart leapt in his chest at the idea that Beth wanted him again. He sat next to her, stretching his legs out in front of him, his thigh running alongside hers. "I found this for ya, too. Was hiding in a chest of drawers." He reached back and pulled a pistol from behind his back. He showed her that the safety was still on and handed it over to her. "You ever shot one before?"

"Uh…did you forget about how we lost the prison? You handed me a gun," she said teasingly.

"You sassin' me now?" he asked with mock incredulity, but smiled back at her. "If you remember, princess, I handed you an assault rifle. This happens to be a 10 millimeter Glock. Not a ton of kickback, decent accuracy. How's it feel?"

Beth weighed the gun in her hands. She held it out as if she was aiming at something on the other side of the room, making sure to keep her index finger along the barrel of the gun, not on the trigger, the way Rick had taught her back at the farmhouse. "It's good. Thank you."

"Here," Daryl got up and offered his hand to her to help her stand. She'd been sitting cross-legged for too long, so she wobbled a little as she stood, the blood returning to her feet, giving that pins and needles feeling. Daryl placed his hands on her waist, steadying her, not doing much to hide his grin from her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, just momentarily, before bringing them back around to the front.

Beth realized he was fastening a holster around her hips. She couldn't stop the sudden intake of breath as his knuckles brushed against her stomach as he fastened the buckle on the belt. She looked up at him, but Daryl was all business - not that that stopped her nipples from pebbling at being so close to him, or her breath to come in short, heavy gasps. She placed the pistol in the holster and placed her hands lightly on top of his. His eyes shot up at her, surprised at first, then softening as he smiled at her, then pressed a kiss to her forehead. She reached up and cradled his cheek in her hand, bringing him down to meet her for a quick kiss. "Thank you."

"Ain't nothin'. Figured you need something to protect yourself that has a little more reach than yer knife." He thought back to the night she'd been kidnapped and wondered if it would have all gone differently if she'd had a gun back then. No point in rehashing the past. She was here now; she was his. He pressed another kiss against her lips, then pulled back, knowing there was still work to be done. "C'mon. Let's get some of this stuff packed up. Need to be ready to go…just in case."

"In case of what?" Beth had figured they'd be staying in the apartment building for a long while, especially with winter coming up. She thought it was decently secure, and they were definitely well-stocked here.

"Hell, we don't know who's all out there. If Joe and them were to show up all a'sudden. If there's other people livin' in this town that decide they don't want us here. Better safe than sorry." He wasn't mad at her or anything. He just had to keep her safety as his top priority, even above his own.

"You really think there's other people still here in town?" Beth asked, apprehension heavy in her voice. They'd seen a handful of walkers in the street, but absolutely no signs of life since they'd been here. Granted, they hadn't explored outside the building since entering it.

"Dunno. Could be. Only one way to find out. Ya wanna go exploring? We've still got some sunlight left." He knew he should probably leave her in the safety of the apartment, but didn't want to have her out of sight and ear shot ever again. Wandering through apartments down the hall was one thing. Going up and down streets in a strange town was completely different.

"Yeah. Okay. Let's go." Beth made sure her new gun and her knife were secured along her hips, then followed Daryl down the hall and downstairs.

XXXXX

Tim had seen them first.

Everyone had been up for a couple hours now, but the rain from last night had hardly let up, and no one in the group felt inclined to go wandering through the muddy woods or through the run-down shops to try and find something to eat. Now that the weather had decided to cooperate, the men could start working on finding food.

Doing their best to control their hunger as they moved down the street, the Claimers took out walkers as necessary, not wanting to expend any excessive energy. They started on the same side of the street as the empty warehouse they'd spent the night in, planning on coming up the other side of the street on the return trip. They decided if a door was already standing open, there wouldn't be much hope for anything useful inside, so they'd just pass looking in only to make sure there weren't any walkers standing around ready to stumble out onto the sidewalk and come after them. There were a couple shops still closed up; they busted down the doors, taking no real regard in preserving any sanctity within, nor taking any care to really conceal their presence.

A couple blocks down, Tim saw the slight woman and larger man with something strapped to his back crossing the street, hurrying into a building. He couldn't make out any details; the afternoon sun was glaring down on the rain-slick street, causing him to squint hard against the blinding glare. He tapped Joe on the shoulder and pointed in their direction. Joe acknowledged his discovery silently, motioning to the group to follow them.

They finally reached the doorway and saw the two figures standing in the back of the dark store, their backs toward the door. Joe walked in, stepping heavily, menacingly, chuckling wickedly, "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He hadn't drawn his weapon; he knew the men behind him would have it covered.

He heard their feet shuffle as the two of them turned to face the front of the store. After being in the bright sun and suddenly walking into the too-dark store, he still couldn't see the pair, but heard the woman say softly, "Please…we don't want any trouble. Just please let us go."

"Well, fat, fucking chance on that, bitch." Tony spit out at her. "You're about to find out what happens when you break the rules."

She sounded confused as she asked, "And what rule did we break?"

"You said you would be on watch. You left us out there completely unguarded, ya stupid cunt." Chester was yelling at her at this point. "That's lying. Number one rule - don't lie. Ain't that right, Joe?"

"I reckon so. Yer little plan didn't work, though. We survived the night, no thanks to you, and we found your sorry asses anyway. Your sorry, lyin', good for nothin' asses. Teach 'em, boys. Teach 'em all the way." Joe said, his voice dripping with malice.

"I don't fuckin' think so," growled a low voice that came from behind them. Before they could turn around all the way to see who had come up behind them, Tony had an arrow sticking out of the side of his temple.

Chester turned and took a knife to the middle of his chest, just off center. His breath gurgled out of his mouth, his lung punctured, blood bubbling up as he tried to draw breath, then seeping from the corners his mouth. Beth shoved him with all her might into Tim standing next to him. Caught unaware and still confused as to what the hell was going on around him, Tim stumbled under Chester's sudden weight to the floor.

Mac and Joe were left standing, facing Daryl and Beth's silhouettes at the door, both their weapons drawn and aimed at them. "You son of a bi-" Joe started to yell, before a Bowie knife came from behind and slit his throat. Mac looked in shock as Joe fell to the ground when a sickening crunch was heard - the sound of a blunt object coming down hard on a man's skull. Mac dropped to the floor like a sack of bricks.

Daryl walked over to Tim, still struggling with panic under Chester's dead weight. "Mother fuckers," he muttered before releasing a bolt straight into the man's eye.

The whole thing had lasted a little more than a minute, and not a single gunshot was fired. Beth turned in time to drive her knife into the soft skull of a walker who had heard Joe's yell from earlier, then checked in the immediate vicinity for more before closing the store front door. As she did, the two in the back made their way into the light.

Daryl could hardly believe his eyes. Standing before him was Carol and Tyreese. Tyreese wiped Mac's blood and gray matter off the business end of his hammer before returning it to the loop of his carpenter pants. Carol cleaned the edge of her knife on her pants before checking behind Tyreese, smiling, then facing the two at the door. Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "Daryl?" she whispered.

"Holy shit! Carol?" Daryl stepped forward, shouldering his crossbow, walking around the bodies of the men on the floor. He wrapped his arms around the older woman's shoulders, pulling her tightly to him, then backed up and hugged Tyreese, clapping him on the back.

"Careful!" Carol cried. Daryl stepped back in alarm. Carol put her hands on Tyreese's shoulders, turning him, and Daryl saw what the fuss was all about; there, strapped to his back, was a little bundle…a bundle with curling brown hair and chubby little arms and legs.

"Oh my god! Beth, look!" He turned to see Beth crouched over one of the men, her knife still out. He suddenly realized she was still taking care of these men, stabbing them all in the head before they could reanimate. In the excitement of being reunited with two of his friends, he'd forgotten protocol and neglected to make sure the men were good and truly dead. A feeling of shame overtook him. So much for protecting her. Here she was, protecting all of them.

She wiped her blade on Joe's vest and stood up, looking stronger and more powerful than he'd ever seen her. If he were honest, she'd never looked sexier, though this was neither the time nor the place to think that way. She looked up and smiled brightly as she stepped around the bodies, crossing the floor to hug Carol and Tyreese, when she stopped short. Her eyes finally fell on the bundle on Tyreese's back; her breath left her as her eyes welled up with tears of joy. There was her precious baby Judith. Beth squealed at the sight of her, reaching out to pick her up and hold her close, relishing the smell of her, the feel of how she fit so naturally against her hip again. She silently prayed thanks to god for bringing this little baby back to her, safely and in one piece. She pressed kiss after kiss on Judith's soft hair as the baby babbled sweetly and wrapped her tiny fingers in the end of Beth's ponytail.

Daryl couldn't tear his eyes away from the two of them. He smiled widely at them, trying his hardest to fight back the tears pricking his eyes. He stepped close to Beth and wrapped his strong arms around the pair of them. He kissed the top of Judith's head then looked at them over Beth next to him and asked, "What happened? Where'd you guys end up?"

Carol gave Daryl a questioning look, then shared a glance with Tyreese, before smiling knowingly back at Daryl. "Is there somewhere else we can go to catch up?"

Beth beamed at them, stepping out of Daryl's arms and wrapping one of hers around Carol in a tight hug. "Of course! Oh, Carol, it's so good to see you! And Tyreese!" She released Carol and moved to the large man, trying to pull him into a hug, but only managing to get her arm halfway around his waist. "Come on, let's get you guys inside and comfy."

Daryl smiled at how happy Beth was. He realized she'd been right; at least these three had survived. Maybe he did just need to have a little faith, just needed to believe that the rest of the group would be together again one day.

He lead them across the street to the apartment building. He'd ask Tyreese to help him take care of the bodies later. Right now, there were still lots of questions to be asked, lots of catching up to do. For now, Daryl was just happy to have part of his family back.


	17. Chapter 17

**Claimed - Chapter 17**

Daryl opened up the manager's apartment and welcomed Tyreese and Carol in. Beth came in last, still holding Judith on her hip. He couldn't help but smile at her. Beth exuded happiness, and he was happy that she was happy. It didn't escape him that she had been right - there were other survivors from the prison. Maybe the rest of them were out there, too. Daryl didn't want to get his hopes up, but as of late, this whole faith thing that Beth was so adamant about might just pay off.

Beth handed Judith off to Daryl and began to prepare a meal for the four of them. He held the baby a little awkwardly at first, until she settled against him and started cooing and babbling at him, waving her tiny fists excitedly in the air as she looked up at him. "Hey there, sweetheart. You been a good li'l ass-kicker for Carol and Tyreese?" She grinned and gurgled up at him, her smile contagious; Daryl's own smile widened as he adjusted her to lay upright along his chest, her bottom resting in the crook of his arm.

Carol took a seat at the small dining room table, cracking open a bottle of water that Beth had offered her. "She's been as good as gold. Such a good baby," she smiled and reached up to straighten Judith's shirt. Daryl felt her fingers brush against his arm, but thought nothing of it. Carol got up to grab the can of formula from her bag to make Judith a bottle.

"Here, Carol, I can do that. You eat!" Beth brought over a couple bowls of the vegetable soup she had heated over the tiny stovetop, along with spoons, and set them in front of Carol and Tyreese, who had seated himself across from the older woman. "What all happened to you guys?" she asked as she brought a bowl over for Daryl along with a package of crackers for all of them, pulled a chair out so he could sit down, then set to work preparing a bottle of formula. She looked up, waiting for their answer. An odd look had crossed Carol's face, but Beth dismissed it as her being tired and hungry, and maybe relieved at having a safe place to stay for a while, but still not trusting it.

Tyreese spoke first. "Thanks, Beth. This looks great! Well, I was there in the yard, you know...I saw the bus pull away, then Maggie, Sasha and Bob took off together. I was all but gettin' gunned down by two of the Governor's people. They cornered me into that little garden we had going. All of a sudden, they stopped. I crawled up, and saw Lizzie and Mika there, guns still held high. Those two little girls saved my life. They took off, running the wrong way. Turns out they had hidden little Judy here, and ran over to get her. We all snuck off, kept makin' our way through the woods. Long story short, Carol found us, and we started following the railroad tracks."

"You had the girls? What happened to them?" Beth wondered out loud. She handed Daryl the bottle of formula she had prepared for Judith before starting in on her own bowl of soup.

Tyreese and Carol looked at each other from across the table. An unspoken sadness passed between them, but there was something else there. It was more than guilt; Beth couldn't put her finger on it. Tyreese looked back down at the bowl of soup in front of him. "They didn't make it," he mumbled before slurping another spoonful into his mouth. Carol followed suit.

"You seen any o' the others?" Daryl asked.

"No. Saw the signs for Terminus…and the notes from Maggie to Glenn. We knew we were on the right track to finding them."

Daryl bristled at the mention of the note for Glenn. Beth hadn't mentioned it since they first saw one a couple days ago. It still pissed him off something awful, now that he thought about it. He thought back to when he found out that Merle had been left on that rooftop in Atlanta, how he fought tooth and nail to try to get to him, even when he knew his brother could take care of himself, no question about it. How the hell could Maggie just forget all about her baby sister? How could she just write her off so damn easily? It didn't seem to bother Beth any, so he tried to let it go…for now. No sense in bringing it up in present company, anyway.

"You've got yourself a nice little set up here. How'd you manage to find it?" Carol asked, looking up at Daryl.

"Only been here since yesterday. Me and Beth got out together, got separated, but we found each other again." He smiled at Beth as he said this, then continued. "Got in with the assholes you met across the street. Fuckers were no good, and I knew it, but safety in numbers, ya know? We left 'em and wound up here. Been going through the different rooms, came up with this stockpile here."

"When you guys are ready, we can give you the tour," Beth offered. She reached into Daryl's arms to hold Judith to finish feeding her to give Daryl a chance to get some dinner in him.

"Tour? Of the town? It's gonna be dark soon," Tyreese replied.

"Not the town, of the building!" Beth returned with a smile. "We found the master key for all the apartments. You can have your pick of whatever room you want."

Daryl cleared his throat. "Well…not any room they want," he said pointedly. Beth looked up at him, a slight blush filling her cheeks. Daryl had to tear his eyes away from her as he continued. "But, uh, you can look around while there's still light out. Pick out a bed, and go through and find some clean clothes. Seems the previous tenants came in all shapes and sizes, so ya should be able to find somethin'."

Carol and Tyreese had finished their meal and stood up to clean their places. Daryl fished in his pocket for the master key and gestured for them to follow him. Beth went back to their room with Judith, who was struggling to keep her sweet little eyes open. She laid the baby on the bed, bracing some of the extra pillows around her so she wouldn't roll off. She lay down next to her, rubbing her back gently, and singing to her soothingly, until Judith fell asleep. She listened in the hallway for where the other three were.

"Man, I don't care which room I get. As long as I get a soft bed and pillow under me, I'm happy," Tyreese exclaimed loudly. Beth was happy to hear how excited he was at the potential for a good night's sleep after who knows how long. Tyreese opened the door nearest him, turned and bid everyone good night, and shut himself in his room.

Carol looked up at Daryl, crossing her arms in front of her, then looked down at her feet almost shyly. She asked him quietly, "So…which room is yours?"

Daryl nodded in the direction of the room he and Beth had shared. He looked back at Carol and saw the trace of a scowl leave her face. He shook it off, casting wary glance at her. Something was going on with her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "So, how'd you make it back to find Tyreese?"

Carol looked up again, surprised. "How do you mean?"

"Rick told me what happened. You weren't at the prison when all this shit went down. Does Tyreese know what happened?"

Her face hardened, but there was a sadness there, too. "Yeah. I told him. He's okay...we're okay. I think he understands."

Daryl nodded, letting the silence hang between them. After a few heavy moments, he asked, "So…which room ya want?"

Carol's face showed a range of emotions, one after another – hope, then doubt, sadness, and anger. "Whichever. I don't care," she snapped at him.

Daryl didn't know what the hell was going on with her, but he sure as hell didn't like being snapped at when he was pretty certain he didn't deserve it. "Hey, what's goin' on with you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. I'll just sleep in this one," she replied snarkily, her eyes narrowed in animosity, reaching for the nearest doorknob and finding it locked. She hung her head in frustration, cursing under her breath.

Daryl hid his smile from her as he opened the door for her. She slipped past without looking at him and slammed the door. "What in the actual fuck?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head as he walked back to his room. Something had crawled up Carol's ass and died. He didn't know what, but he was sure he was gonna find out sooner or later, whether he wanted to or not.

He walked in and found Beth curled up on the bed beside Judith. She looked up and smiled at him warmly. It seemed positively natural, her taking on such a maternal role, even after being separated for weeks on end. It tugged at Daryl's heartstrings to see her like this. There was a deep thought growing in the back of his mind, but he wasn't brave enough to address it. Not yet, anyway. Instead he just smiled back at her, leaning his shoulder against the door jamb. "How's she doin'?"

Beth pressed a finger to her lips before whispering, "She's sleeping." Her eyes were so full of love for this little girl. Daryl walked over and sat gently on the bed beside Beth and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Where am I supposed to sleep then? You sending me away already?" Daryl asked, trying to sound teasing, but couldn't hide the concern lacing his voice.

Beth turned to lay on her back, looking up at him, running her hand along his arm. "I would never send you away, Daryl. We can all fit in here. Just for tonight, until we find a crib or something for Judith tomorrow." She sat up to look at him in the eye, draping her hands over his shoulders. "I do feel bad, though."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Daryl asked, running his hands along her waist.

"Well, it looks like we won't be getting much alone time anymore," she smiled sadly at him. Her bottom lip stuck out. So help him, she was actually pouting.

"Oh, don't you worry 'bout that, darlin'. We'll make it work…just gotta keep you quiet," he grinned at her before kissing her.

She moaned as he pulled away, "Mmm…I'm not sure if I can stay quiet when I'm with you."

He leaned forward and whispered against her lips, "Guess we'll just have to practice then," before sealing his mouth over hers. His tongue slipped between her lips, tasting and tempting her at the same time.

Beth pushed gently on his chest, breaking their kiss. "But not tonight. Not with Judith in here!"

Daryl released an exasperated sigh, touching his forehead to hers. "I guess you're right. But soon…right?"

Beth giggled. She couldn't believe a man like Daryl would want her so badly, but knew she wouldn't be able to deny him what he wanted. She echoed what he had told her just a few nights ago, laying by the fire in the woods. "Yes, baby. Soon. Very soon," she smiled naughtily at him.

XXXXX

The next morning, Beth brought Judith back to the manager's apartment and began preparing breakfast for everyone. Daryl and Tyreese had headed out to get rid of the Claimers' bodies and scope out the town some more, something Beth and Daryl hadn't exactly gotten around to. Beth noticed Carol was quiet, holding Judith in her lap while the baby munched on some stale cereal. Beth tried to break the silence, "I can't believe how big she got so quick. She'll be walking soon, don't ya think?"

Carol didn't even look up. "Yeah."

Not to be discouraged, Beth tried again, "I'm sure there's some kind of clothing store or a baby store or something in town. We can go and look for some warmer clothes for her so she doesn't have to be wrapped up in blankets all the time. Hopefully we can find her a crib or something."

"Mm-hmm."

Beth's patience was starting to wear thin. She knew Carol was probably just tired, but they were all tired; it didn't give her the right to be all surly. "Carol, is something wrong?" she asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.

"No. Everything's fine," Carol replied icily. The look on her face was crystal clear to Beth; the glare in Carol's eyes all but screamed, "Leave me alone."

Beth turned back to heating a can of chicken meat and some vegetables for everyone's breakfast. She wished she could make something like pancakes or bacon and eggs, but there wasn't much hope for that anymore…unless they happened to find a place with actual livestock. She had just started plating the food when she heard Daryl and Tyreese coming up the stairs. She turned as they entered the apartment. "Everything go okay?" she asked them.

Daryl crossed to her and kissed her forehead. "Sure did. Met a couple walkers on the way, but nothing we couldn't handle."

Tyreese held up a bag that looked weighed down with something. "Plus we got all these. Not a lot, but it'll help." He opened up the bag and displayed all the weapons the Claimers had had on them, plus any other useful items they had. "Not like they're gonna use 'em anymore," he added with a mocking grin.

Daryl went to grab a plate full of food and Beth playfully slapped his hand away. "You two were just handling dead bodies and you aren't gonna clean your hands before you eat?" Beth chastised him with mock disgust.

"Well, it's not like we got soap and runnin' water here, darlin'" Daryl replied. Carol's sharp scoff of disdain dampened any kind of playful mood they'd been trying to set.

Beth looked at the older woman, then to Daryl with concern. "Well, at least wipe your hands on a towel or something. Get the grime off before you eat," she said, casting a small smile up at him, but letting it drop immediately. Apparently Carol was still in a mood, and it seemed to be directed at Beth, so she didn't want to provoke her.

Daryl saw the look Beth gave him, seeing that she had picked up on Carol's odd behavior, too. He looked Beth full in the face, trying to convey that she shouldn't worry. "Yes, ma'am," he said with half a smile, and grabbed a towel that was hanging from one of the drawer pulls. He tossed it to Tyreese when he had sufficiently cleaned his hands.

The two of them brought over the plates of food, and everyone tucked in. The silence that hung in the room was palpable. The only one who didn't seem to notice was Judith, who seemed to be happy to be out of the pouch Carol and Tyreese had fashioned for her. Her chubby little hands reached for more pieces of cereal and brought them clumsily to her mouth, now showing more teeth than Beth remembered her having. Judith slapped her hands playfully on the table as she chewed, babbling all the while, drawing a smile from everyone at the table, Carol included.

As they finished eating their breakfast, the four of them began discussing the game plan. While a part of Beth wanted to continue on to Terminus to try to find Maggie and Glenn, a bigger part had no interest in leaving the safety of what they already had. Daryl said he would rather stay in this town and try to make a go of it. Tyreese seemed to feel the same way as Daryl, and Carol only showed her indifference with a non-committal shrug. That being decided, Beth suggested that first they find a crib and some warmer clothes for Judith. Daryl agreed with her, apparently a little too quickly for Carol's taste, made apparent by yet another scoff and a pointed look.

Daryl had to bite his tongue to keep from saying something he would probably regret later, but he hated this animosity coming toward him and Beth. Carol was his friend, or at least she had been, and he couldn't figure out where this new attitude was coming from. He wasn't about to call her out in front of everyone.

Daryl recommended that he, Tyreese and Carol went into town while Beth stayed inside with Judith, who was starting to act sleepy and in need of a nap. Beth accepted his suggestion, not wanting to be apart from him, but trusted that everyone would be alright, especially with the newly added weapons from the Claimers. She would finish sorting through everything they had found in the building while the other three were out in the town.

Beth brought the fussy baby to the bedroom in the manager's apartment, surrounding her with pillows as she had last night. Daryl followed her in, closing the door behind him quietly before coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a kiss on her neck. Beth turned around in his arms and placed her hands on his broad shoulders. "Hey, you," she purred.

"Hey yourself," Daryl said, his voice low and sexy and just for her. He planted a kiss on her lips, but pulled back before they got too carried away. "You okay?" he asked, seeing that Beth looked distraught, his own concern crossing his features.

"Yeah...just don't know what's going on with Carol. Did I do something?" Beth asked, her worry evident in her voice.

Daryl looked down at her, his eyes full of sympathy for her. Instead of being angry at Carol for slighting her every chance she got since she'd been here, Beth was only concerned for others, as usual. He couldn't help but smile at the woman in his arms. "No, sweetheart. You didn't do nothin'. Somethin's eatin' her up, and I don't know what it is. I'll figure it out, ask her what's goin' on. Whatever it is, she's got no good reason ta be upset with you, so if nothin' else, I'll try an' set her straight. If we're gonna be livin' under the same roof again, we need ta get along, don't ya think?"

Beth pulled Daryl down for a kiss. "Thank you, Daryl. I hate people bein' mad at me...especially when I don't know what I did."

"I know, sweetheart. I know. We'll fix it, don't worry."

Beth released him from her hold around his shoulders, letting her fingers trace over his biceps before resting along his elbows. "You guys be careful out there today. Just 'cause we haven't seen a ton of walkers don't mean they aren't hiding somewhere. Come back to me...and soon," she added, raising a suggestive eyebrow at him.

Daryl took the hint and kissed her over her hickey before murmuring in her ear, "Yes ma'am." He pulled back and shot her that sexy grin that always seemed to make her blush. "Love you."

Beth's blush deepened as the corners of her mouth crept upward. "Love you, too. Now get goin'." Daryl turned to walk out the door; as he did, Beth swatted playfully at his butt. Daryl jumped a little, then turned back to look at her over his shoulder. Beth smiled flirtatiously. "How does it feel?"

"Oh...you'll get yours later, girly," he grinned back at her, then opened the door and headed back to where Carol and Tyreese were waiting. "Ready to go? Let's head out."

**Oh, can you feel the tension? Man, the muse was being an absolute bitch for this chapter. I can't help but wonder if it's because it's been 2 months into the hiatus already so I'm losing connection to the characters, or if it's because I've been reading too many other wonderful fanfics. Wait a minute...too many fanfics? Impossible.**

**Oh yeah, as per usual, I don't own Walking Dead or any characters therein. Dang it. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Claimed - Chapter 18**

Daryl, Tyreese and Carol made their way through the town, taking out the occasional walker as they went. Daryl wondered why they hadn't seen more of the undead, but figured most had ended up walking off through the woods in search of fresh meat. The few walkers that had remained obviously hadn't eaten anything…or any one…in a long time. Eventually they made their way to a couple shops sitting on the main street of the town, old mom and pop stores. A town this size didn't have enough draw for any kind of chain store. They could have easily gone through each of the stores, but Daryl didn't want to leave Beth and Judith alone any longer than was necessary. Hell, if he was honest, he just didn't want to be away from Beth for any amount of time. That woman had worked her way under his skin and invaded every corner of his mind, every part of his long-neglected heart.

Tyreese spotted a faded, but still colorful, sign a block or so down the street - "Bundles of Joy." They quick-stepped to the door, finding it closed but not locked. Cautiously, Daryl turned the knob and gently pushed the door open. He scanned the shop, looking for movement, but found none. Daryl brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled, hoping the sound would bring any walkers to the front of the store. He thought it'd be better to meet any surprises where the three of them could easily get away rather than when they're surrounded by shelves and displays.

Tyreese took a few steps into the store, still searching for any undead surprises, when the three of them heard a quiet shuffling sound coming from the back. The larger man gave the other two a look before heading toward the sound, withdrawing his hammer from its usual loop in his cargo pants as he moved. A moment later, Tyreese called back to them, "All clear." Carol and Daryl followed him in, splitting up to see what all the store had to offer.

Being inside this type of store had made Daryl more than a little uncomfortable. Everywhere he looked were soft, plushy, pastel-colored things. He was so out of his element, it wasn't even funny, yet he couldn't help but smile to himself. This place absolutely screamed Beth. His thoughts traveled back to her, yet again, to last night, when she took so naturally to caring for baby Judith, as if they'd never been separated. That niggling thought returned to the back of his mind. He was leery of letting the thought bubble to the surface, where he would actually have to deal with it. He tamped the thought back to the recesses of his mind, trying to focus on the task at hand.

Daryl had reached the rear wall of the store, having passed countless racks of tiny sets of clothes. The wall in front of him was covered with every kind of stuffed animal he could think of. He turned and headed down toward the next section, finding more and more toys. He wanted to grab some for Judith, but knew that a crib, diapers and formula were the priorities for this run. He went to move on to the next section, then turned at the last minute and grabbed a small teddy bear, which he shoved in his pocket, hiding it from view, and ventured on.

Before he made his way into the next section, Tyreese called from his side of the store, "Found the cribs." Daryl made his way over to the sound of the other man's voice. He had no idea there would be such a variety of cribs to choose from. Carol joined them, already carrying a couple packages of disposable diapers and a bottle of baby powder. They began looking over the selection of cribs, Tyreese deferring to Carol's opinion as to which would be a good bet to bring back for Judith, though Daryl had his eye on one with dark stained wood and flowers etched into the sides. He noticed the price tag on it, and was astounded that people would spend so much on something they would only use for a matter of months. He wanted this little girl to have the best - she'd been through a shit ton of hardship that she just didn't deserve. Carol went over to a plain looking crib, running her hands over the bars and testing the mattress. Before she could say anything, Daryl piped up, "I think she'd like this one." Carol's wary look didn't escape Daryl, but it didn't phase him either.

What did bother him was hearing Carol mutter something that sounded like, "Of course _she _would…" under her breath. Something was going on with Carol that had her acting very hostile toward him and Beth…especially to Beth. He was reminded that he needed to get to the bottom of this, nip it in the bud before something big happened.

They realized it wasn't very practical to wheel the demo model through the store, down the street and up the stairs to the apartment, so Tyreese and Daryl set to looking for the box with the "ready to assemble" parts inside. Having found it, Tyreese volunteered to bring the box back to the apartment and start putting it together while Carol and Daryl finished up grabbing the necessities from the store.

Daryl continued searching the store and found a car seat and began filling it with cans of formula mix. He wandered back toward the clothes, deciding it wouldn't hurt to bring back a couple of new outfits for Judith while they were here. No sense in making a special trip just for clothes. He heard Carol come up behind him. "I thought we were just getting diapers, formula and the crib," she remarked with an accusatory tone.

"Yeah, but Beth had said Judith would need some new clothes. Gonna need some warm clothes for all of us soon," he replied, turning back to looking for long sleeved items. He heard another scoff come from behind him. He felt his shoulders tighten. He could face walkers all day long if he really had to, or go up against someone who was threatening him with no problem. When it came to confronting someone he actually knew, well, that just wasn't Daryl's strongest suit. He rolled his shoulders backward, cracked his neck, and turned slowly to face the woman again.

"Alright, what's goin' on with you?" Daryl pinned Carol with his steely blue gaze. He wasn't trying to be mean, but he wasn't gonna be nice either. Short and to the point seemed like the best tactic right now.

"What's going on with me? What's going on with you?" Carol countered. Daryl noticed her grip tighten on the packages of diapers she was holding. "When did you get so damn cozy with Beth?"

"Is that what this is about? What the hell does it matter to you?" Daryl returned, trying like hell to keep his voice even, though he felt himself getting very defensive. "Me an' Beth been through a lot together. A lot of things have changed, 'specially 'bout me, all cause o' her."

"Oh, well bless her little heart," Carol spat out, each word dripping with disdain. "What about everything we went through together?"

Daryl fixed her with a steady gaze, his eyes narrowing. He reflected on his history with Carol - the camp, the farmhouse, the prison…Sophia - a myriad of memories flooding his brain. They were all quickly replaced with thoughts of Beth - spending the night in that trunk, the moonshine shack, the funeral home…her hair…her smile…her eyes…spending the night with her wrapped in his arms…making love to her…admitting out loud how much he loved her. He'd never felt anything like how he felt with Beth - certainly not with Carol. He might have loved Carol, but he was never in love with her. He took a step closer to Carol, never breaking eye contact. "What we went through, you an' me, it ain't the same. Not even close," he said in a low voice, practically growling at her.

Carol took a step back. Her breathing had sped up, near hyperventilating, her face a mix of emotions. Her eyes began to water, tears threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. All she could do was stammer, "But…but…what about…"

Daryl cut her off, "Don't you start cryin' on me now. We been through some tough shit, I'll give ya that, but Beth…she saved me. I promised her I'd protect her, and she ended up saving me. And I will be damned if you continue to treat her like you been treatin' her because you got some wild hair up yer ass."

Carol just stared at him, wide-eyed and mouth hanging open. "I…I didn't know."

"Yeah, well, you know now." He could feel the tension melting out of his shoulders. "Look, Carol. I know me an' you are friends, but that's all we are…all we're gonna be. If that means anything to you, then you need to back off and give Beth some slack. She ain't done nothing to you and she sure as hell don't deserve you snappin' at her every chance you get."

Carol dropped her eyes to the space between her shoes. She couldn't believe it. She really thought she and Daryl had a connection, one that was important to both of them, that wouldn't be replaced. Now come to find out she'd been wrong. No. She couldn't be. She'd let him go on thinking he had something with this little girl, but he'd come around and remember what they'd had. Well, what they could have had. "Fine," she finally bit out.

Daryl gave her one last look before turning back to the rack of clothes he had been looking at. He heard Carol storm out of the shop. He kept going through the tiny clothes in front of him. Screw it, he thought. He'd come back with Beth. He was clueless as to what Judith would need anyway. He just wanted to get back home to Beth. Home? The word surprised him, but it felt right. He readjusted the car carrier in his hand and walked out the door, making sure to close it behind him, and headed back toward the apartment.

Carol was just ahead of Daryl; she reached the top of the stairs of the apartment building just as he walked in the main door. As he climbed the stairs, he heard a door slam above him, and he figured she had locked herself in her room, which was just fine with him. Sitting outside Carol's door were the diapers and everything else Carol had taken with her from the store. "Real mature. Couldn't even bring it to where Judith is?" Daryl thought to himself. Maybe their talk hadn't gone over as well as he'd thought. He wasn't about to go poking that bear again now. There'd be time later. Let her cool off before starting shit up again. He picked up the few items and added them to the cans of formula he had collected.

He made his way down the hall into the apartment he shared with Beth to find Tyreese already at work putting the crib together. Beth was sitting in the living room with him, Judith playing on the floor near her. As he walked in the door, Beth looked up, nothing but smiles just for him. He placed the car carrier and his bow on the floor just inside the doorway as she got up off the couch and crossed over to him. Her arms wound their way around his waist, pulling him close, pressing her cheek to his chest; his arms took their place around her shoulders. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He noticed Tyreese looking up at him from his place on the floor and didn't miss the discerning look directed at him. Tyreese smirked and shook his head before returning to putting the crib together.

"Man, don't even start," Daryl shook his head but smiled as he released Beth from his arms. Beth's hand found his and led him across the living room, back to the couch near Judith. Daryl followed her, but stopped on the other side of Tyreese, looking down to see if he could help figure out how to put the damn thing together. Zombie apocalypse or not, he just couldn't bring himself to consult the instruction manual, especially since it was apparent that Tyreese had avoided doing so himself.

"Hey man," Tyreese chuckled, "I ain't sayin' nothing. Not exactly my place, ya know?" He glanced up at Daryl, who looked physically relieved at his reaction. Tyreese looked back and forth between Daryl and Beth and questioned, "So…how long has this been goin' on? If ya don't mind my askin'."

Beth blushed a little and giggled nervously before answering. "I dunno. A while, I guess." Daryl was thankful that she didn't divulge too many details. Hell, he didn't know if he could have answered the question at all. They hadn't exactly put a label on their fledgling relationship. Seemed like Daryl would be having another conversation, but this was one he was actually looking forward to having.

"Well," Tyreese continued, "I'm glad you two found each other. You sure seem a hell of a lot less surly than before." He looked over at Daryl at that, smirking as he continued. "That's at least something. Now, ya wanna hand me that Allen wrench?" He pointed to the tool next to Daryl, who picked it up and handed it over to him. Daryl was grateful for the vote of support from Tyreese.

As he bent over, he felt something in his pocket and remembered the teddy bear. He pulled out the toy and squatted down next to Judith to present it to her. He smiled widely as the little girl beamed up at him and reached out with her chubby little hands to grasp it. He handed it to her, and she immediately brought it to her mouth. Daryl chuckled, and heard Beth's gentle laugh join his. He gazed up at her, seeing nothing but love in her eyes. At first he thought her look was reserved just for Judith, but when her eyes never left his, he figured otherwise. He gazed at her a moment longer before turning to help Tyreese finish with the crib.

The men kept working to get the crib constructed, Beth helped when she could, but focused mostly on observing Judith as she played on the floor. As she watched, she realized that Judith really hadn't had a lot of chances to just be a baby, to play on a soft carpeted floor with a new toy that was just hers. She couldn't exactly crawl around while Carol and Tyreese had her and were on the move. The baby was basically carried everywhere she went all her life. Beth hoped her little muscles would develop normally. She had to be close to a year old by now, which means she should be working on her first steps soon, but here she was barely crawling. Beth wished they could make these apartments a semi-permanent home to give Judith a chance at having a somewhat normal childhood. Well, as normal a childhood as she could have in this world, anyway.

Just by that, Judith put down the teddy bear and pulled herself up onto her hands and knees and rocked herself into motion, clumsily making her way across the small space to get closer to Beth. Excitedly, Beth reached out her hands, coaxing her on. A sharp squeal of delight left the baby's mouth as she continued scooting across the floor to Beth. Daryl and Tyreese both turned to see what the commotion was, which distracted Judith, and she changed course and started to make her way over to the men. It seemed to Beth that she had no problem crawling, which gave her a sense of relief.

"Whatcha doin' Miss Judith?" Beth asked with a grin, which bubbled into a laugh when Judith turned her head to look back at her, a drooly grin filling her face. She crawled back over to Beth excitedly, babbling and giggling the whole time. When she made it to Beth's legs, her hands reached up toward her knees. Beth hooked her hands under Judith's arms and lifted her up, the baby's legs kicking excitedly. "Do you wanna dance? Does my happy little girl wanna dance?"

Beth scooted back on the couch and lowered Judith so her feet landed on her thighs. Judith's knees bent and straightened as her little legs took her weight. She bounced happily on Beth's lap, knees flexing as her arms flapped around excitedly, the silly grin never leaving her face. Beth laughed right out loud and sang a cute little song she was making up on the spot. As Judith kept bouncing on her lap, Beth wondered if maybe walking was in the not so distant future for the little girl.

Daryl and Tyreese finally got the crib standing and had even dressed the mattress. Tyreese came over to the girls and picked up Judith, earning another squeal of surprised delight. It touched Beth's heart to see these two rough and rugged men doting on Judith so much. "Boys, it is just beautiful! Thank you so much for getting this for her!" She got up off the couch and walked over to examine the crib. She ran her hands along the top bar of the railings, then traced her fingers over the engraved flowers adorning one of the sides. She felt the soft sheets that covered the plush mattress. "It's beautiful," Beth cooed. She looked up at Daryl who had shifted uncomfortably next to her, and she swore she saw him blush a little. She placed her hand gently on his bicep, her thumb stroking the taut skin there, then turned to Tyreese and laid her other hand on his shoulder, thanking both the men for providing this wonderfully perfect crib for Judith. She went to make up a bottle then handed it to Tyreese to feed to Judith. She set to making lunch for everyone else, realizing she hadn't seen Carol come back from the shop; she'd heard her well enough, just hadn't seen her, but figured Carol wanted it that way.

She glanced at Daryl, who had picked up the teddy bear and placed it in the crib. He walked over to stand behind Beth, his hands rubbing her shoulders, along her slender arms, and resting on the swell of her hips. He kissed her neck and murmured in her ear, "Hey there, sweetheart."

Beth turned in his arms and wound her arms around him, purring back to him, "Hey there, yourself," before pecking him on the lips. "Everything go okay at the store?" she asked pointedly, hoping Daryl would pick up on her hidden meaning. She figured he had said something to Carol, and judging by the older woman's behavior upon reentering the building, things hadn't gone smoothly.

Daryl's expression turned a little darker, but not so much to worry Beth. "Yeah, nothing bad happened. Had a little heart to heart with Carol. We'll just have to see what happens now."

Concern crossed Beth's face. "You weren't…too mean, were you?"

Daryl smirked, "Me? Too mean? Naw. Just the right amount of mean." He chuckled at this as Beth rolled her eyes. "It ain't right what she's been doin' since she got here. Not doin' right by you at all. I let her know, is all."

Beth wasn't entirely convinced, but didn't want to push the issue. She turned back to the little cook top and finished heating the can of veggies and pork 'n beans and serving them up on the plates she had found. Daryl helped her carry them and silverware over to the table. She had made a plate for Carol, just in case she decided to join them.

After lunch, Tyreese said he'd like to go through the other apartments and look for some newer clothes. Daryl handed him the master key; Tyreese cleared his place, thanked Beth for preparing the food, and headed off down the hall.

Beth cleared her and Daryl's plates, then went over to check on Judith, who had fallen asleep, belly full and lying sprawled out on the soft mattress. Beth ran a gentle hand along the baby's soft hair. She felt Daryl come up behind her again, one hand reclaiming its place on her hip, the other reaching down to pull the sheet over Judith.

Once he was satisfied that Judith was safe and sound, he turned Beth to face him and slowly kissed her, his tongue seeking entrance to her mouth, which she granted without hesitation. A soft moan escaped her lips and she pressed herself closer to the hard lines of his body, winding her arms around his neck. His hands ran up her back, pressing her ever tighter to him, then dragged his fingers down her spine, over her hips, and grabbed her ass. He felt her smile against him as he gave her a little squeeze. His hands traveled further downward, along the back of her thighs before lifting her up so her legs were wrapped around his waist. He carried her back to the bedroom and gently laid her down on top of the bedspread.

As Beth felt his weight press her down into the mattress, a fleeting thought crossed her mind and she put her hands on his chest and gently pushing back before things went too far. "Daryl, wait."

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice laced with worry.

Beth smiled reassuringly at him. "Nothing's wrong, I promise. I just don't want anyone walking in while we're…you know…" She fiddled with the front of his shirt, almost nervously, and whispered, "I don't think it would be a very good thing if Carol came in looking for lunch or to come get Judith or something and instead found…us." She looked up at Daryl, apologizing with her eyes for breaking the mood.

Daryl sighed and hung his head. "No, you're right." He kissed her lips, then feathered kisses down her neck as he said, "I'll…be…right…back. Don't you dare move."

Beth smiled, "I'll be right here. Promise."

Daryl rushed to the main room and closed and locked the door. Then he turned around and saw Carol's plate of food still sitting on the table. "Dammit," he muttered to himself. He grabbed the plate, unlocked and yanked open the door, and stalked down the hallway, depositing the plate and fork outside Carol's door. He rushed back to their room, closing and relocking the front door, then entering the bedroom, closing and locking that door, just in case. When he turned around, what he saw took his breath away.

Beth was lying on her side, propping her head up on one hand, her hair flowing along her shoulders, wearing nothing but a smile…the sexiest damn smile he'd ever seen.

Daryl had never been so turned on; he all but ripped his shirt off before struggling with his pants, trying to hurry but making sure to be careful with his zipper. Once free of his pants and underwear, his erection stood proudly in front of him. He crossed to the bed and lay down on top of Beth, not entering her yet, but needing to be as close as possible to her. Her hands came up to his back, her fingertips tracing lightly over the scarred skin, leaving trails of fire wherever she touched. Daryl groaned at the sensation before claiming her mouth with a deep kiss.

Daryl reached down and pulled Beth's knee upward, hitching it over his hip, her other leg following soon after. His fingertips traced along her milky thighs, along her hips, her waist, brushing the side of her breast. He rested his elbow on the bed beside her, keeping his weight off her top half while resting comfortably between her thighs. His other hand came to encompass her breast, massaging it tenderly, lightly teasing her already stiff nipple. He closed his mouth around the peak of her breast, lightly nipping at it with his teeth. Goosebumps erupted over her skin and a low moan came from her throat and her fingernails rain up and down his spine; her legs tightened around his waist. "Oh…Daryl…" she purred as she bucked her hips up against him.

That was all the encouragement he needed. He reached over to the night stand and quickly found a condom and sheathed himself. His skilled fingers sought her slick folds, teasing her clit with quick circles of pressure before sliding into her, feeling at once how very tight and wet she was. "God, Beth…you're so hot and ready for me. I don't know how slow I can make it this time. I want you so bad."

"It's okay. You won't hurt me. I trust you." She looked up at him, her eyes filled with love and lust. She readjusted her legs to rest comfortably along his narrow hips and her hands came to rest on his broad shoulders. She threw her head back and cried out as he swiftly entered her.

"Shhh…gotta stay quiet baby. Don't wanna wake anyone up." Daryl ran his fingers through her hair before bending his neck to kiss her again. Their tongues danced around each other as he began to thrust into her. She could feel his hesitation, but knew he needed more, so she moved her hips against his, urging him on, giving him silent permission to let his instincts take over and not hold back.

His thrusts became more insistent, plunging harder, deeper into her. It was all Beth could do to keep from crying out in pleasure. Maybe it was the fact that she couldn't make a noise, or the fact that they could be caught at any time, that added a new sense of excitement to their love making. Daryl's hands were all over her, tempting, teasing, caressing and worshipping all at once.

As his tempo picked up, Beth began to softly moan and gasp again, and his hand came up to cover her mouth. "Shh…" was all he could get out; his desire for her was so great, any other words escaped him entirely. He held tight to her hip with his other hand, surely leaving bruises on her porcelain skin, but his lust kept him from caring. He felt a familiar pressure building low in his gut, and judging by Beth's quickened breathing, she was getting close.

Suddenly Beth's eyes grew wide, then rolled back in her head; her back arched against him, her mouth wide open in a silent scream before panting heavily. Daryl felt her inner walls clench around him, and it was all he could do to keep from groaning aloud as he found his own release.

As they both fought to regain their breath, Daryl shifted so he was lying next to her, his Beth, his love and lover. He tucked an errant strand of hair behind her hair before resting his hand along her jaw, pulling her in for a kiss. He whispered against her lips, "Damn, Beth. I don't think I'll ever get enough o' you."

Beth shifted on the bed so she was laying on her side, looking up and down Daryl's lean body, and whispered, "I was thinking the same thing." She smiled lovingly at him. "So…about those lessons you were going to teach me…" her smile turned into a devilish grin. He couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped from his lips before kissing her soundly again.

"We'll get there, darlin', we'll get there. I don't wanna push you too far too soon. I'm enjoying myself just doin' what we're doin'." His brows knitted together. "Are you? Enjoying it?"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho," Beth laughed low in her throat. "Yes, Daryl. Definitely enjoying everything you do to me. I love how you kiss me…how you touch me…how you love me."

"I do, you know. I love you. Ain't nothing gonna change that, either." He kissed her again, his mouth possessing hers, his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her to him.

Beth giggled and pulled away gently. "Careful, baby. Don't wanna start something we can't finish."

Daryl sighed heavily. "You're right. Come on. Let's get dressed and find Tyreese so he can keep an eye on Judith. I want you to look around the store we found. Pick out anything you want. Maybe we can explore around town, just us."

Beth smiled brightly at him before sliding her arms around his neck and bringing him down for a quick kiss. "It's a date."

**These chapters are getting harder and harder to write. It is SO difficult to peg down what Carol would do in these situations. The old Carol, I think, would have been happy for Daryl just on principle of his being happy. The new, raw Carol is a little trickier. I think she's got a real possessive streak in her - look at what lengths she goes through to protect those the cares about on the show. And even though I'm not her biggest fan (and really never have been) I don't want her to be a cruel, cold-hearted bitch, either. I find myself second guessing a lot and proofing and re-reading and re-proofing til all hours of the night, trying to get it just perfect.  
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**Let me know what you think. Thanks for all your reviews so far, they definitely help get the muse in a good mood. Keep them coming!**

**Major shout outs to Hearts1989 and Remi Savant for being my sounding boards. Love you two!  
**


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